Anne Spinn embodied the Pilot’s ‘heart and soul’

Tony Dodero

Anne Spinn, a former Daily Pilot librarian and history columnist

known for her wit, sense of humor and dedication to the newspaper and

its readers, has died. She was 71.

Mrs. Spinn, who retired from the newspaper in 1996, died after suffering from heart failure Friday night, said Gerry Spinn, her

husband of 47 years.

“She was a very loving, caring, helpful person with everyone she

knew,” Gerry Spinn said.

Born on May 27, 1931, in Atlanta, Mrs. Spinn, her husband and

family moved to Corona del Mar in the late 1970s. The family lived

there for 18 years, and her son Mark was a star basketball player at

Corona del Mar High School.

A former school teacher, Mrs. Spinn answered an ad in the Daily

Pilot looking for a librarian and was hired in the early 1980s, her

husband said.

In later years, Mrs. Spinn and her family were hit by tragedy, as

two of her children, Marshall and Priscilla, died in early adulthood.

Mrs. Spinn worked for the Daily Pilot for 14 years as the

newspaper’s librarian. She also wrote the paper’s weekly Looking Back

column, which chronicled Newport-Mesa history, and for years was the

anonymous author of the snappy and bright weather blurbs that ran on

the paper’s front page.

Former Pilot Editor Bill Lobdell and former Managing Editor Steve

Marble, both of whom worked with her for years, were saddened to hear

of Mrs. Spinn’s death.

“She was a second mom to everybody who passed through the

newsroom,” Lobdell said. “Any journalist who worked there quickly

learned that she was the most intelligent and well-read person in the

place.”

Marble had similar words of praise.

“She was one of the kindest, sweetest, most dedicated people I

knew,” Marble said. “To me, she came to represent the heart and soul

of the Daily Pilot more than anyone.

“She cared about the people who worked there,” he said. “She had

passion for her job and continuously pumped life into the place. She

was always reminding us of our basic roots.”

Pilot Publisher Tom Johnson also had fond memories of Mrs. Spinn.

“When we were going through tough times, she was someone who

helped hold this place together,” Johnson said.

Former colleagues Bob Barker, a longtime Daily Pilot reporter, and

Bea Anderson, a former copy editor at the paper, had similar memories

of Mrs. Spinn.

“She was always full of fun,” Barker said. “We always had

something to laugh about with Anne. She did the good work without any

anger. She was truly a great person.”

Anderson said she has lost her best friend.

“I thought she was just like Mother Earth to all of us around

here,” she said. “She was just a remarkable person. I felt privileged

just to know her.”

After retiring in June 1996, Mrs. Spinn and her husband moved to

her hometown of Summerville, S.C., where she was living when she

died.

Gerry Spinn said services were private and that, in lieu of

flowers, the family is asking that donations be made in her name to

the Girl Scouts of America, as a tribute to their late daughter

Priscilla, who was once named Orange County Girl Scout of the Year.

She is survived by husband Gerry; and two sons, Mark of Aliso

Viejo and Michael of Tampa, Fla.