My friendship with Clare began in the early 1980s when I came West every January to teach writing in the College of Environmental Design. To familiarize myself with the culture, I asked who were considered the "good writers" on the faculty. One who stood out was Clare Cooper Marcus. As I read her work and learned what students wrote in her classes, I was drawn to her combination of interests--many of which I shared. Then one winter morning, I looked up and found her sitting at the small table next to mine in Nabolom's--enjoying an amazing muffin and deeply immersed in journal-writing--same as I was.

That day we started a conversation that continued for nearly fifty years--gardening, healing, Jung, Buddhism, family history, health-food, academia, and the never-ending fascination of writing itself. Clare was a few years ahead of me, but we were more or less of the same generation, and it was wonderful to have this friendship after my work on the East Coast increased and I was no longer regularly in CED. I often came West in the summers to visit my parents who had retired to land in the woodlands of the Napa Valley. I was so glad that my mother--also a wonderful gardener--got to meet Clare. Later when I became one of the family caretakers for this land, Clare and I arranged our own "writing retreats" at the Napa place as often as we could. And Clare kindly put me up many times in her home on Stuart St., where I met our friend Lynne Elizabeth, who became our publisher at New Village Press.

The Napa retreats were so memorable. We'd work separately at our own pace throughout the day, writing indoors or outside, taking walks as we wished, and watching for deer, coyotes, and wild turkeys. In the evenings, we'd make dinner, watch the sunset, and sit around a hearth-fire to read our work to each other. I got to hear drafts of Iona Dreaming, some wonderful poetry from her work with the Deep River Poets at the San Francisco Jung Institute, and many small pieces that would later become part of Grounding. One year Clare's brother Paul visited from Canada, and she brought him to the Napa place for lunch on the deck. Now all the stories of her childhood in the wartime English countryside had more reality for me.

Looking back, I remember something Clare shared with me during one of our early conversations, something that became a theme with us over the years. Yes, she had done so much with her writing professionally, but especially as retirement came closer, she was eager to go beyond the skill that had marked her professional life into writing as deep emotional and spiritual expression. I had seen that quality even in her earlier writing. A favorite of mine was House as Mirror of Self. But Clare wanted more. Perhaps that was what was so special about her work with the Deep River Poets. When their teacher, Naomi Ruth Lowinsky, published their work in Soul Making in the Valley of the Shadow in 2021, Clare's poems stood out for me. My favorite was one she'd once read to me beside the fire in Napa, "Anne Frank's Tree." Here Clare tells the story of the young girl growing up in grave danger across the English Channel at the same time as her own wartime childhood experiences in the natural world. In this poem I felt it all--the seasons, the tree outside Anne's window that was "achingly alive, dear daily reminder/ of leaf-birth/ leaf fall." I wept with the workmen at the end of the poem, who, "Sixty years on," had to cut down Anne's now-dying tree. Clare's words brought me into the sensations of layered lives--hers and Anne's--the feelings, the touch of earth--infused with Clare's own deep, honest, and loving sensitivity.

It is this aspiration of my friend that I want to lift up here. This aspiration that I watched grow in her during the many years of our writing friendship, her aspiration to use the deepest power of the word, to speak the felt truth in all its complexity. Now, I am eager to see how her final book, Groundbreaking: My Unmapped Path as an Academic, Mother, and Gardener, embodies this aspiration--as I know it must. And I wish our dear Clare could be with us to celebrate her long and rich life with the written word.

I was one of her students in 1979-1981 and was fortunate to later become a friend.  Clare loved to be out in the countryside but was no longer able to go because she did not drive on freeways anymore.

So, for Clare’s 90th birthday, I gave her the gift of a trip into the countryside. She chose a trip to the top of Mount Tamalpais to walk around the East Summit, a 0.75 mile handicap accessible trail that circles the highest peak.

We went in September 2025 and started with a picnic at the trailhead. Then we walked the trail. The trail had benches along the way to rest and several overlooks. We were able to see Mount St. Helena in Napa County, Mount Diablo in the East Bay and the communities in Marin County.

Attached are some pictures of our excursion.

Sarah told me the sad news of Clare’s passing. I am a Metcalfe neighbour and was a good friend of Paul and Mary’s and therefore was included in the family get-togethers when Clare passed through Ottawa on her way to Scotland or elsewhere. She was always ‘Auntie Clare’ to us, and she was so sharp and warm and engaging that it seemed like she was somehow Auntie to all of us. She left a vivid impression as a kind and thoughtful human being.

It seems odd that I miss her even though she lived a continent away and I saw her only intermittently, but that is the evidence of her personality and spirit. I send my condolences to the family.

Tim Brodhead 

Message from England, from Virginia Matheou:

Sad news about Clare. 

Great friend of my sister Mary Tregear [Clare's childhood friend and sister-in-law ] and was a frequent visitor to our home in Leighton Buzzard where she was always fondly greeted by my Mother and all of us. 

I have reason to be very grateful for Clare's kindness in arranging for a friend to open her flat in Berkely CA and let me stay there for a month while I worked in San Francisco to raise money for the Greyhound fare to take me back to Washinton D.C. in 1962/63. 

I was also glad to offer some hospitality and respite for Clare when she hurt her ankle badly while on a big walking tour and needed to recuperate with aid of frozen peas in our bedroom in Solihull, also a long time ago in 2004.

Love from, 

Virginia (Tregear) Matheou

I studied at UC Berkeley from 1976 to 1980. Clare was one of my PhD

advisors. I took two of her courses. The one I most remember was the

seminar on Environmental Values. There, in a small group, we explored

how the the physical elements and experiences of places we had lived in,

shaped our relationship with the environment and possibly the choice of

our vocation. Clare and I discovered that we were about the same age,

lived in the same neighborhood, came from Europe, and had lived through

the same horrifying 6-year war and its aftermath. We both loved our

garden as well as gardening. After Berkeley I joined the San Francisco

Planning Department and was assigned as open space planner to the team,

that developed The Downtown Plan. As primary data to this effort, I

conducted a survey of the design preferences of 350 users of existing downtown

open spaces, a direct application of a technique taught by Clare.

From time to time I would see Clare at Nabolom's, where she over coffee

and pastries wrote first drafts of her books or articles on yellow legal

pads. Now and then by chance we would meet on our walks through the

Elmwood neighborhood and stop and chat. When we had both retired, we

would occasionally have tea in my living room or in her kitchen. At our

last time she had just submitted her book for printing. She showed me

the jacket she had helped design. She was also planning the book signing

and reading at Ms. Dalloway. When Bill died in June of last year, she

made the great effort to come to his Memorial.

I miss you Clare. You lived lightly on this earth.

Eva

What can I say…? Such a huge loss, so hard to put into words.

Without a doubt, for almost 50 years, Clare was one of my all-time favorite professors, mentors, and friends.

A stellar teacher, a top notch Ph.D. Dissertation Advisor, a most talented scholar, a persuasive author, she soon became a lifelong colleague and friend.

She left her mark on generations of students. Her scores of publications leave a lasting legacy.

Clare was a guru in our field. I will never forget traveling to many Environmental Design Research Association (EDRA) conferences where audiences were mesmerized by her powerful presentations. I always felt incredibly fortunate to have been her student.

Following an EDRA conference in Edinburgh, Clare kindly invited me to join her and another former student for a few days at Iona, her home away from home, a beautiful Scottish isle that set the stage for many of her later writings. It is truly a magical place.

Years later I was honored to join Clare, her wonderful family and friends to celebrate her milestone 80th and 90th birthdays, and to serve as unofficial photographer. I will always remember her in her colorful dress (the same one for both birthdays) surrounded by loved ones in her beautiful garden.

My heart goes out to Cooper, Lucy, Angela, Myles, Remi, and all her family and friends. As we Greeks say, may her memory be eternal! 

Sending lots of love an sympathy to all of you - Kathy

My deepest condolences to Clare’s family. I am sad I didn’t get to see Clare again. A year ago, when she emailed me after receiving my holiday card, I told her I planned to come visit her this year…..

Clare was truly an inspirational mentor. I learned so much from her in LA 140: Social and Psychological Factors in Open Space Design, that the approaches of understanding people-environment relations have embedded deeply in my work as a landscape architect and as a human being. The course was well-structured with theories, case studies, and discussions. She also brought in guest speakers and showed films. For the assignments – San Francisco Plaza Design Criticism, Post-Occupancy Evaluation of a Neighborhood Park, and Environmental Autobiography, Clare reviewed them attentively, gave constructive comments, and even corrected the use of words in my writing.

After LA 140, Clare asked me to do the illustrations for her book, People Places: Design Guidelines for Urban Open Space, co-authored with Carolyn Francis. I had so much fun visiting the case study sites in the Bay Area, drawing the various site plans. After I graduated and started working, I continued assisting Clare on the second edition of People Places. I feel very honored and grateful for being part of making of this book.

In 2003, I invited Clare to speak about Healing Gardens at the Texas ASLA Conference in Houston. During this trip, she had a list of places in the Texas Medical Center she wanted to visit. It was wonderful to accompany Clare. I could see her passion and enthusiasm walking through the gardens observing, photographing and taking notes.

In 2015 my family planned a trip to London, Clare called and suggested places we should visit. That was the last time we spoke on the phone. I think of Clare often. We continued to write each other to stay in touch. I would like to plan a trip to revisit Berkeley. When I walk through the campus and the neighborhood parks, I will be remembering Clare.