Dana Point's Doris Walker

I try not to post multiple memorials to any one person (even friends) on this blog. But Brent Walker, one of Doris Walker's two sons, has been posting such great photos of his mom on FaceBook, that I asked if I could repost some of them here. There will be a celebration of Doris' life on Nov. 26, at 6pm, at the Dana Point Community Center, 34052 Del Obispo St. -- where so many Dana Point Historical Society events have been held over the years. Click here to read her obituary in the L.A. Times.

The photo above shows Brent and Doris at a joint mother-and-son book signing. Brent is a film historian.

The photo above shows Doris in the late 1950s, as editor of Chalk Talk, the in-house publication for the Brunswick Bowling Equipment Co. in Chicago. In the photo below, we see her working as a journalist in the 1970s.

The Walkers moved to Dana Point in the 1960s. It's a good place to raise children.

In the photo above, Blair and Brent pose with their parents on John Wayne's yacht, "The Wild Goose." It was taken around 1968 on a press event related to the building of Dana Point Harbor.

An excellent writer, placed in a town that was just starting to go through massive change and expansion,... How could she not have recorded Dana Point's story for posterity? She was the right person, in the right place, at the right time.

The photo above shows Doris taking the first book out of the first box of Dana Point/Capistrano Bay: Home Port for Romance. Among many good books, this is still probably her signature volume. Certainly, it was this book that introduced much of Orange County to her work.

And finally, here's one of Doris's favorite moments: Coming eye-to-eye with an elephant seal on a trip to Baja California. Short of professional marine biologists, I've never met anyone with a greater interest in the Pacific and the animals who live in and around it. It was just one more of the many enthusiasms she shared with anyone who would listen, or read.

Thanks again, Doris.