PNLA Quarterly, Vol. 63 No.3 Spring 1999
In Memoriam
Don Distad, a leading supporter of the Lincoln City, Oregon, Driftwood Library, passed away in December. Distad served as Chair of the Board, the Foundation and the Friends. Also active in the Oregon Library Association, he worked on the Intellectual Freedom Committee and Legislative Committee and was a member of the LSCA Advisory Council. Memorials may be made to the Driftwood Library in Lincoln City.Professor Emeritus Eldon Tamblyn passed away at his Portland, Oregon, home January 12. Tamblyn served as Head Cataloger at the Portland State University Library from 1967 until his retirement in 1996. During that time he set a standard of professional excellence as the Catalog Unit grew through major changes of cards to microfilm to on-line format.
Oregon lost a good friend and library advocate with the death of James Meeks on January 16. He was a resident of Seaside following his retirement from the directorship of the Eugene Public Library in 1991. During his extensive public library career which began as a student page, he held the following posts: Director of Enid Public Library, Enid, OK (1951-53); Director of Dallas Public Library, Dallas, TX (1955-61); Cherry Creek Schools District Library Coordinator, Englewood, CO (1962-69); Director of Colorado State Library, Denver (1969-74); and finally Director of Eugene Public Library, Eugene, OR (1975-1991). His education included a B.A. from the University of Denver in 1947 and a Master's in Library Science from Columbia University, New York City, in 1949. His university education was interrupted by World War II, in which he served in the 90th Infantry Division from March 1942 until October 1945. A hometown memorial service is scheduled for May 9th in Buckner, Mo.
George Piternick, Emeritus Professor, School of Library, Archival and Information Studies, The University of British Columbia, died at home on March 5, 1999. He received an A.B. from The University of California at Berkeley in 1939. He pursued graduate studies in Zoology at the The University of Hawaii and The University of California at Berkeley. His academic career was interrupted from 1942 to 1946 by service in the U.S. Navy. Returning to The University of California, he received a B.L.S. in 1947, and joined the staff of the library first as a Cataloger and a Catalog Analyst, then as a Library Administrative Analyst until 1961, when he was appointed Assistant Director of Libraries at the University of Washington. In 1965 he joined the faculty of the School of Librarianship, The University of British Columbia as Associate Professor and was promoted to Professor in 1970. Following his retirement in 1983, he took a keen interest in the evolution of the Internet and was a daily e-mail correspondent, staying in touch with dozens of colleagues around the world. He is survived by his wife Ann, also Professor Emeritus of the School of Library, Archival and Information Studies.