Marthe-Hermance Cohen
1916-March 20, 2010
Palo Alto, California
Marthe-Hermance Cohen, 95, a Palo Alto Weekly Board of Contributors columnist, died March 20, 2010.
She was born in Vernon, France. As a child she traveled with her parents in North Africa with the French cavalry, as chronicled in her 1988 book, "Mamie." This engendered a lifelong interest in travel. With a masters' degree from the School of Journalism in Lille, she intended to pursue a writing career.
In 1936, while attending the Sorbonne, in Paris, she met American Karl Paley Cohen. They married in 1938 and immediately sailed to New York to avoid the start of WWII. Their three daughters were born in Manhattan. Marthe taught herself to cook in the French style, and became an accomplished cook and lifelong, gracious hostess of dinner parties and large gatherings for family and business acquaintances.
In 1956 the family moved from Bayside, New York, to Palo Alto, California, when Karl took a job with General Electric in San Jose.
When her children grew up she returned to writing full-time, and attended writers' workshops at Lake Tahoe, Asilomar, and other venues. She was chairperson and contributing member of the Writers Group of the Palo Alto branch of the American Association of University Women. She researched and wrote The Parks of Palo Alto for the Palo Alto Historical Association. As a member of the Board of Contributors of the Palo Alto Weekly, she wrote a monthly column for years. She was the editor of The Tall Tree, the Palo Alto Historical Association's monthly bulletin; the RSVP newsletter, published by the Retired Senior Volunteer Program; the Unitarian Church newsletter, and the American Jewish Women's ORT newsletter.
She loved hiking in the Sierra Nevada. In the 1980s, the National Park Service revamped the Yosemite park plan and she became concerned that the park would be accessible only to the young. She campaigned in her newspaper column for access and facilities for seniors and persons of limited mobility. She also supported the Mono Lake Committee, and was a Guardian of the Lake.
Marthe is survived by her spouse of 71 years, Karl Paley Cohen of Palo Alto; daughters Beatrix Cashmore, Martine LeBouc and Elisabeth Brown; four grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
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