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Richard S. Sanders MALS ’70

Richard S. Sanders MALS ’70, February 9, 2009, in Portland. Dick received his BA in English from PSU, and was an editor, writer, and consultant. In Oregon in the ’50s and early '60s, he taught high school English, journalism, and speech. He refused to sign the loyalty oath required of Oregon teachers during the McCarthy era, and moved to California in 1965 to become acting chief of public affairs for the California social welfare department, and executive secretary of the state social welfare board. He wrote speeches for California governor Pat Brown and coauthored and edited a popular Harper & Row language arts series, New Directions in English. He revised his MALS thesis to serve as the teacher's introduction to the series. In 1977, he returned to Oregon to be speechwriter for Governor Robert Straub. During the last three years of his life, Dick researched and wrote the book Portland State: A History in Pictures, which was published by the Retirement Association of Portland State in April. In his public obituary is this thought: “His professional life reflected his respect for the power and beauty of words.” Survivors include four children, and five grandchildren.

Appeared in Reed magazine: August 2009

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