Darryle Pollack - 1949-2019

Doreen Gluckin passes along this sad news:

Andy,

It is with a very heavy heart that I am forwarding this obituary to you. Darryle was, as Steve Cushner commented on Facebook recently, “one of the most beloved members of our class since her first day in New Haven”.

I feel that the world seems smaller and less colorful without Darryle and her positive energy in it. Her charm, smile and yes, her amazing hair, will be sorely missed. But I am grateful that I knew her and thankful that she had so many “extra” years after her breast cancer. May her memory be for a blessing.

With warm regards,
Doreen

POLLACK, DARRYLE Born August 19, 1949, died peacefully at home in Los Angeles, surrounded by family on May 25, 2019, after a lifetime defined by creativity, storytelling, bravery, laughter and love. Darryle was born in Miami Beach, Florida, the eldest child of Irving and Marcella Pollack, and grew up in the resort city with an intellectual and creative bent encouraged by her parents. She attended Cornell for two years before transferring and graduating from Yale in the first class that included women. Darryle worked on George McGovern’s presidential campaign before she returned to Miami to begin a career in journalism. She was a pioneer in women’s reporting and worked as a news anchor for CBS station WTVJ-Miami (and later for KCBS-Los Angeles). During a television interview in Miami, Mel Brooks found out she was single, and suggested she go on a date with Brooks’ manager, Howard Rothberg. Shortly thereafter, Darryle married Howard and moved to Los Angeles, where they had two children: Alison (“Alice”) (b. 1984) and Daniel (b. 1988). After her divorce, she married Vaughn Feather in 1994, and relocated with her children to Carmel, California, where she lived for the next 19 years. After battling and defeating breast cancer, Darryle became an outspoken advocate for cancer survivors. An extremely talented and avid writer, Darryle wrote various publications, including a blog and book, both titled “I Never Signed Up For This,” and chronicled her life as a breast cancer survivor in a thoughtful, inspiring and humorous way. Darryle remained an active leader, writer and speaker for the cancer community for her entire life. She was the lead-plaintiff in a lawsuit related to the Springer cancer vaccine (to which she attributed her cancer survival, and was the subject of her ongoing book project). Darryle found refuge from cancer in art, and she developed into an accomplished painter and mosaicist. She considered her work with mosaics a metaphor for how she reassembled the broken pieces of her life into a beautiful new creation. Almost 25 years after her initial breast cancer diagnosis, she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, which was the cause of her death. Darryle’s countless stories, publications and speeches – including her TedX Talk, blog and book – can be found easily on the internet, but she always considered her children to be her greatest accomplishment. Darryle is survived by her two children (Alice and Daniel), her husband (Vaughn), her sister (Carla), brother (Josh), her brother-in-law (Paul), many extended family members, and countless friends. A private service has been planned for family with a larger celebration of Darryle’s life to follow, closer to what would have been her 70th birthday. Donations can be made in her name to The Carol Hatton Memorial Fund for Women in Need.