Muriel Beadle; Author and Former L.A. Journalist

Muriel Beadle, 78, former newswoman and author of seven books. Born Muriel McClure in Alhambra, Mrs. Beadle grew up in Chicago but returned to California to attend Pomona College. After five years as a department store advertising writer, she worked from 1948 to 1958 as fashion editor, feature writer and women’s editor for the now-defunct Los Angeles Mirror. She was widowed twice, in 1951 by the death of Marine officer James Barnett and in 1989 by Caltech Nobel laureate and former University of Chicago President George W. Beadle. During her second marriage, Mrs. Beadle turned to writing books. The first, “These Ruins Are Inhabited,” which was published in 1961, was a humorous account of life at England’s Oxford University when her husband was a visiting professor there. Her other topics included genetics, child development and the University of Chicago. On Sunday in Pomona.