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Sandra Shaw Gullikson ’63

Sandra Shaw Gullikson ’63, July 4, 2001, in Portland, from Lou Gehrig’s disease. She was the founder and owner of Clearwater Graphics, best known for its “Coyote” greeting card line. Shortly after graduating from Reed, she married Mel Gullikson. The couple moved to a small farm in Wilsonville, where she gardened and raised livestock, and raised two children. They moved to La Grande, Oregon, in 1977, where she pursued her career in art by working as a graphic artist and practicing drawing and fine arts, primarily in watercolors. She also edited several poetry chapbooks and began publishing a quarterly journal of prose and fiction. In the early 1980s she founded Clearwater Graphics to distribute her line of greeting cards based on her characters Coyote, the cactus-eared rabbit, and others. When the family relocated to Little Rock, Arkansas, she began developing the company into one of national recognition, and her greeting cards and calendars won many national awards. In 1989 they moved to Bristol, Vermont, where she continued the business and also wrote and illustrated a children’s book, Trouble for Breakfast, published in 1990 by Dial Books. Her other artistic activities included painting large murals for local businesses and working as a scenic artist. In late 1999 she was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease, and in May 2000 the couple returned to Portland to be nearer to their children. Survivors include her husband, a daughter, a son, a granddaughter, and a sister.

Appeared in Reed magazine: November 2001

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