Obituary of Richard William Carlson

Richard William Carlson 1947-2010 Rich Carlson, devoted husband of 26 years to Ruth Wertzberger Carlson, loving brother to Bob Carlson, brother-in-law to 10 family members, favorite uncle to 17 nieces and nephews, great uncle to two grandnephews, respected journalism colleague, and good friend to many, died too soon in an accident, Sunday, July 11. Born September 23, 1947 in Berkeley, CA, he grew up in Sheffield Village in San Leandro and graduated from San Francisco State University with a B.A. in Broadcast Communications Arts. His illustrious career as a videographer resulted in numerous awards such as: winning the San Francisco Bay Area Press Photographer of the Year twice and runner up to the National Press Photographer of the Year. The New York Yacht Club among other groups honored the film he produced, directed and filmed, "Spinnakers on the Wind." The majority of his professional life was working as a news cameraman at KRON-TV in San Francisco (1977-2001) where he traveled to Russia and the eastern block when it was still communist, meeting Princess Diana, and President Bill Clinton. But he was most proud of shaking hands with John Bertrand the Australian skipper who first took the America's Cup Yachting trophy away from America. Sailing was his passion and his dream was to live in Santa Cruz. In 1989 he and Ruth moved to the Yacht Harbor area within walking distance of his boat, named Pop after his father, Ed. Rich left KRON-TV nine years ago to take care of his mother Bernice and when she passed away he created a website "letterstoheaven.org" to help people with the grieving process. His niece Staci will continue the website in his memory. Upon retirement, he began a second career as a travel journalist, often accompanied by his wife Ruth who wrote the stories to match his indelible images. Rich also created and hosted a TV show, TalkInTravel, www.talkintravel.com. His international travel photos and articles were published in the USA Today, the San Francisco Chronicle, the San Jose Mercury News, the Santa Cruz Sentinel, and the Epoch Times to name a few outlets. His wife started a blog to record his memorable personality called: mylarrydavid.blogspot.com. Per his wishes, his ashes will be scattered at sea and a private party celebrating his life will be held at a later date. Contributions: The family suggests the UCSC Sailing Club, checks payable to UCSC Foundation with a note in memory of Rich Carlson. Mail to: Kathy Rouhier, UCSC, 1156 High Street, 245 Hahn Student Services, Santa Cruz, CA 95064 or contact: 831-459-7192, kathyr@ucsc.edu