Umass Medical

Death of Lois Callahan
Lois Callahan — The death of Lois Callahan this week brought back a memory of her administrative tenure in the County Community College District. She was named president of College of San Mateo at almost the same time California voters OK’d Proposition 13 in 1978. One result of that measure was to shift community college funding from local taxpayers to the state.
The impact here was significant. But Callahan (who later became chancellor of the district) handled the turbulence with aplomb. She was a calming influence during a very difficult and uncertain period. MARTIN’S BEACH — The reported pending sale of Martin’s Beach south of Half Moon Bay could mark the end of an era.
The property, which has been open to the public for a $5 fee for generations, contains an eclectic collection of several dozen little houses not far from the surf line. Why it’s cool: Plenty of fourth-graders know the story of “Dragon wings,” the beloved Newberry Award-winning novel by the Bay Area’s own Laurence Yep.
For the rest of you, it’s the tale of 8-year-old Moon Shadow, who leaves China to build a life with his proud and ingenious father in San Francisco’s teeming Chinatown, where the family owns a laundry. Along the way, the soaring human spirit triumphs over the challenges of greed, materialism, prejudice and the 1906 earthquake.