[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 72 (Thursday, June 8, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1069-E1070]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              TRIBUTE TO BETH ASHLEY ON HER 80TH BIRTHDAY

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. LYNN C. WOOLSEY

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, June 8, 2006

  Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise with great pleasure to celebrate my 
friend Beth Ashley on the occasion of her 80th birthday. Beth has 
enriched so many lives in Marin County, CA, through her years of 
accomplished writing for the Marin Independent Journal as well as for 
her passionate immersion in varied aspects of life in the community and 
around the globe.
  Born in Massachusetts, Beth moved many times in her early years as 
the family sought financial stability during the Depression. With the 
help of her supportive family, she developed an interest in writing and 
worked on school newspapers. They moved to Marin in 1942, and, after 
finishing her junior year in high school, Beth entered Stanford 
University where she became editor of the Stanford Daily. She graduated 
in 1947 with majors in journalism and political science.
  Beth's journalism career began in Marin at KTIM radio and included 
stints in southern California and Europe before her first job at the 
Independent Journal, IJ, as a copy editor in 1953. She soon became news 
editor, one of only two women with such a position in California at 
that time. Except for a 12-year break to raise her children and a brief 
foray into a public relations business, Beth has been an important 
fixture in several different roles at the IJ. She currently shines as a 
feature writer.
  Raising her five sons--including two from the previous marriage of 
her second husband, Ross Ashley--was a role Beth also relished. She 
loved her years as a homemaker but retuned to work when her husband 
died of cancer in 1971.
  Another constant in Beth's life has been travel, which feeds her 
curiosity as well as nourishing her compassion for others. She has 
written movingly on topics such as the food shortages in Moscow in the 
early years of Glasnost to the struggles of women in Afghanistan trying 
to recover from years of repressive Taliban rule, and she is currently 
involved in Iran and its people on the ground, as well as in Darfur.
  Beth has been a positive force on nonprofit boards in Marin County 
including the Marin Aids Political Action Committee, Love is the 
Answer, the Marin Education Fund, and the Red Cross. She has won 
numerous awards for her community service, awards which reflect her 
caring and commitment. She also published a book, entitled, of course, 
Marin, which captures the same essence of the area that is reflected in 
her features.
  Readers of the IJ look forward eagerly to Beth's columns which 
illuminate all aspects of life in Marin County as well as capturing 
deeper feelings about our global world and our shared humanity. 
Reflecting on the life of a young girl who is working in Darfur, Sudan, 
with Doctors Without Borders, Beth mused, ``Young people today do 
remarkable things--eschewing personal comfort, risking their lives--to 
help humanity in the rest of the world.... And I felt stirrings of 
regret that I had never fulfilled a long-ago urge to change the work 
with unselfish service of my own.''
  Fortunately, she adds to these ruminations, ``My life has been 
happier than I could ever have dreamed.'' Her happiness, caring, and 
concern shine through both in person and in the newspaper. Beth's 
writings have been a remarkable and unselfish service to the people of 
her community and beyond, but to Beth, her children are one of the most 
important legacies anyone could have.

[[Page E1070]]

  Mr. Speaker, today it is my privilege to thank Beth Ashley for what 
she has given to us and to join with thousands of others in wishing her 
a happy 80th birthday.

                          ____________________