In memory of Anne Yamasaki
We feel profoundly affected by the recent demise of Anne Yamasaki. We’ll always remember her amazing talent and her vibrant personality. People found Anne′s work endearing, as well as the attitudes it represented. She attracted and charmed everybody. Hundreds of people are expected for her memorial service at the Issei Hall in the Japanese Cultural Center in San Francisco. Our hearts go out to the mourners.
Briem Gunnlaugur, Anne’s colleague and a family friend, has the story.
Anne Yamasaki
May 17, 1936 — May 16, 2010
Anne Yamasaki was born in Dairen, Manchuria (now Dalian, People’s Republic of China) in 1936, where her father covered the Sino- Japanese war for the Reuters news agency, and grew up in Hawaii.
She was president of Friends of Calligraphy in San Francisco, after founding and operating the Calligraphic Arts school, gallery & supply store in Huntington Beach, California, with two partners. Her works have been exhibited internationally and are widely represented in public and private collections.
Her charity work was unsparing (National Japanese American Historical Society, Bread and Roses, Little Brothers Friends of the Elderly, the Cherry Blossom Festival and the American Cancer Society), in addition to her duties on the Advisory Committee of the Hotel-Restaurant Management School at the Golden Gate University.
She died of cancer on May 16, and leaves behind her husband of 25 years, George Yamasaki, her daughter Susie, her grandchildren Dylan and Megan; a free thinker to the end, gently debunking the solemn and pompous.
Gunnlaugur SE Briem, USA
Anne the printed matter. Linocut by Lefty Fontenrose
Anne the organizer. At one of countless charity events that needed a magic touch
Anne the miracle wife. With husband George Yamasaki
Anne the demon percussionist. Next to George’s grand piano there stood a much-beaten drum set
Anne the mermaid. With granddaughter Megan on a Hawaii beach
