Ranch & Coast Magazine

Mingei Museum, helped to create souvenir books for the Globe's anniversaries, and researched and wrote the histories of many organizations, including e Salvation Army's Women's Auxiliary, which has presented "Women of Dedication" for 56 years to honor philanthropic women in the San Diego area community. e auxiliary designated Davies as a "WOD" in 1989 for her years of community service, and she chaired the fête in 2007. In recent years, Davies devoted much of her time to chronicling and cataloging the stories that comprise San Diego's rich history. "I'm always chasing stories," she often said. "Everybody, everybody has an interesting story. I don't care who it is, and you can't judge by the exterior. You can't tell — it's amazing! Go sit on a bus bench and just talk to the person sitting next to you." Davies, who turned 83 in April, noted years ago her need "to preserve things" as she grew older. She was anxious to record stories before people die, dementia takes hold, memories fade. "I have always been in a hurry," she said. "Years ago, people would ask, 'What is your hurry?'" She finally had the answer. "No matter how much I've hurried, I haven't done a tenth of what I'd like to do," she said. "ere's always more that you want to look into. Oh, if I just had two more lives." We at Ranch & Coast are so fortunate to have had Davies in our lives, not only as Arts & Culture Editor for more than 28 years, but as a dear friend, mentor, and a never-ending source of inspiration. We send our love to Paul Marshall, her son David Gould, and all who knew and loved her. She will be deeply missed. e following is Davies' final submission to Ranch & Coast. ANDREA NAVERSEN Lowell Davies and the E. W. Scripps Connection e Scripps name is ubiquitous here in San Diego, with its deep impact felt throughout the worlds of medicine and science, including the vast Scripps Health organization and Scripps Institution of Oceanography. It reaches far beyond those realms alone, as well as our boundaries here, too. For instance, we recently learned the name Harini Logan, the Texas eighth grader who was the winner in a tie-breaker "spell-off " of the Scripps National Spelling Bee. e goal was for the two finalists to correctly spell as many words as possible in a timed speed round. Logan was crowned the winner, correctly spelling 22 words in 90 seconds. Runner-up Vikram Raju spelled 15 words. E. W. Scripps Company is an American entity that was formed in 1878 and became a powerful publishing enterprise. It was founded in Cleveland as a chain of daily newspapers by Edward Willis "E. W." Scripps and his sister, Ellen Browning Scripps. At one point, the Scrippses owned 34 newspapers in 15 states. Of course, E. W. and Ellen Scripps are names well known to La Jollans, as the city later was home to both. Closer to my heart, there is also a connection between the E. W. Scripps Company and San Diegan Lowell Davies, my beloved late husband who was the longtime president of e Old Globe and whose name graces the outdoor Lowell Davies Festival eatre. ough from San Francisco, Davies spent the last year of the First World War stationed at Fort Rosecrans in Point Loma. According to Davies, when the war ended in 1918, he heard about a job opening while at the old YMCA in downtown San Diego. E. W. Scripps was looking for a private secretary, and though he possessed only a sixth-grade education, Davies knew he was a first-class stenographer, so he applied for the position and got it. For the following year, he took dictation, organized the Scripps library, mailed letters and packages, and ordered large quantities of books from catalogs. As Davies told it, Scripps' wife spent many hours reading the new books to her husband. When visitors arrived on the train, Davies also greeted them and provided transportation. rough all these experiences, a new world opened to him as he encountered fresh ideas and observations on every subject. He also learned a life lesson. One of Scripps' activities involved writing what he called "white papers," disquisitions on myriad topics. He, of course, dictated them to Davies, and one in particular caught Davies' eye. It was on the subject of personal independence, and Scripps developed a convincing case for no one working for anyone but himself, thus not having to bend to the will of others. at impressed Davies so much that he quit his position as Scripps' private secretary and never again worked for anyone but himself. Even as a lawyer later in life, he worked only for his own law firm, the one with his name on the door. is is the oral story Lowell Davies told and it is retold from bits and pieces of memory. DARLENE G. DAVIES Lowell Davies circa 1911 ranchandcoast.com @ranchandcoast RANCH & COAST MAGAZINE AUGUST 2022 93

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