ojai news at The Ojai Post :: blog, newspaper, events in Ojai, California

Itis indeed a sad christmas without JEFF.my thoughts and prayers go to him and his daughters.BLESSINGS AND LOVE TO ALL.. NAMASTE

The End of An Era, A Tribute to Jeff San Marchi, by Alasdair Coyne

Jeff San Marchi, editor and publisher of the Ojai and Ventura Voice, collapsed around 8 pm Sunday night Dec 23rd, on the Ventura Pier, and died. He is survived by his two daughters.

It is not known to me what was the cause of his death or whether he died there, or on the way to or at the hospital.

Jeff began the Ojai Valley Voice, later expanded to include Ventura, in 1988, nearly 20 years ago. He covered the stories that other papers missed or neglected and fearlessly shone light on skulduggery of any sort perpetrated by local elected officials.

The Voice was also a shared voice for the community. As just one example, Jeff's willingness to publish over 50 articles by this writer, over a 10 year period during the 1990's, educating the public about the proposed Farmont Golfclub next to Rancho Matilija, created the public groundswell of opposition that gradually and steadfastly led to the exclusive development's failure. In the end, state bond money and local contributions led to the creation of the Ojai Valley Land Conservancy's 1500 acre Ventura River Preserve on most of the Farmont property.

The community has lost an important voice (pun intended). Nobody is likely to follow in Jeff's footsteps. The Voice was a one-man operation. Putting a 32-page (or thereabouts) newspaper together each two weeks (for nearly 20 years) required an immense amount of hard work - and no real vacation time, ever. Jeff often distributed the Voice himself, as well.

He hadn't looked well over much of the past year or so, but apparently he had intense resistance to visiting a doctor, and probably didn't do so.

Jeff, Ojai and Ventura will miss you greatly.

Very sad news indeed. My prayers go out to his family and our community who will miss him.

Goodbye, Jeff. Thank you for the favor you once did for me; you had no real reason to do it except for your personal sense of ethics. If the Voice continues, may it be run by someone like you, although it can easily and honestly be said that you were unique.

Anna and Rosa, daughters of Jeff, Monica and I send you our love and our most sincere condolences.

Thank you Alaisdar for putting into words how so many of us Ojai writers who wrote for the Voice feel. Especially in the early years, it was truly a joy to write for a publication that gave us so much space and freedom to rant and rave about everything under the sun that is so much a part of the Wheel of Life in Ojai.

In the late 80's and early 90's...before e-mail...I would drop off the hard copy of my latest humor column or "Suza's Traffic Update" or some saga on the environmental front, on Jeff's porch...always aware of how hard Jeff worked to keep the Voice going...

Jeff, may your spirit fly free...rest assured I hold no grudges for the years you poked fun at me while I sat on the council...thank you for all the good things you did while you walked the Earth.

Namaste Jeff, Anna, Rosa and rest of your family. The divine in me recognizes and honors the divine in you.

Tenacious, uncompromising and wonderfully authentic -- Jeff leaves a legacy that will live on for me. No other regional publication so consistently brought a smile to my face and the warm blanket of justice to my heart. Jeff inspired me most by shining his journalistic torch into seedy corners where other editors wouldn't dare to go. I'll miss the Canary Yellow Luv, the fishing/camera vest and the smile that came with the knowing that his Voice had kabobbed another smarmy govt official. I can't imagine that his spirit will ever leave us.

December 24, 2007

The Last Deadline....

A deadline is known in the newspaper world as the final second you have to get your story to the editor before it’s just too late.

On Monday morning around 6:00 am Mr Jeffery W. San Marchi, Owner, Editor and Chief Bottle Washer, of the Ojai/Ventura Voice, The Super Friendly Shopper with Political Bite was restocking his newspaper racks throughout the city of Ventura and was at his last stop in the Ventura Harbor when he physically met his final deadline.

Mr San Marchi was stricken with a massive heart attack and by the time the paramedics arrived it was beyond time. Many folks either loved Mr San Marchi’s bi-weekly newspaper or they absolutely hated it. To Jeff it didn’t really matter how many folks disliked his newspaper style, he felt that at the very least he always told it like it was. He enjoyed championing the under dog almost as much as he enjoyed hammering the local politicians. If he felt one of the local politicians was stepping over the line he had no qualms about putting a story about that person in his rag.

No matter what you thought of the Ojai/Ventura Voice if you knew Jeff you would know he was a person that enjoyed his work and his work was his life. I really can’t say I know anybody who could do on a daily basis what Jeff did. He ran his newspaper entirely by himself, sure a few of us wrote our articles and opinions but it was Jeff that did all the editing, design, copy work, ad placement, photo graphics, he would work until very late on the night before the paper was to be out, run the copy to the printer in Santa Barbara, pick up the completed newspapers, place them in the hundreds of racks in Ojai, Oakview, Ventura, Ventura Harbor, Oxnard, Santa Paula, and anywhere else he happened to be. Then during the week he would make runs to re-stock the racks. One of his greatest pleasures was finding a rack completely out of newspapers.

I’m not really sure exactly when it was Jeff started the Voice but I know that it has been around for at least 20 years. That in itself tells you much about the man who ran it, for any business to last 20 or more years is amazing, for a local, bi-weekly, rag to last over 20 years is downright outstanding, especially when it is being run by a single person. One of Jeff’s favorite sayings was from Mark Twain, “I don’t give a damn for a man who can only spell a word one way.” Another way to tell how much Jeff was liked is to look through his newspaper, he was blessed with a whole lot of friends who placed their ads with him on a regular basis.

I don’t suppose the Ojai/Ventura Voice will be taken over by any other foolhardy person, and that is too bad, if there is one thing that is sorely needed in our county it’s a newspaper like the Ojai/Ventura Voice that is not afraid to let the citizens know when something isn’t exactly copasetic.

Jeff were gonna miss ya buddy. Where ever you wind up, keep up the good work!

Rellis Smith
rellis39@sbcglobal.net

Very well said!

I'm pretty sure the first issue of the Ojai Voice came out in February or March 1988. There are no dates on the inside pages of the copies I have and, so far, the front page missing.

There is a full page ad inside that says "Vote for Jim Loebl April 12th."

And an article called "Visions of Ojai:A Conversation with David Hirschberg," by Shirley Leak... a Beatrice Wood Interview by John Perry..."Peace Child Goes on the Road," by Ellen Hall, and a story about "Wilderness Advocate Cary Streling On the Proposed Sespe Wilderness Area," by Jeffrey W. San Marchi himself.

All the guardians of Ojai were featured in the Voice.

Correct spelling: Cary (or Clarence) Sterling.

And ofcourse, the fabulous photography of Ron Seba and Timothy Teague enlivened the pages of the Voice.

Another correction. I meant to say "...the pages of the early years of the Voice."

The caliber of this man and what he did cannnot be
understated in today's political age. His work was the
reason I had the courage to enter into politics and question
and challenge the established order. Could never wait to pick up current issue of the Valley Voice to read his relentless pursuit of truth and what factually was going on around us all and be reminded that the community belonged to the people here, and not those who play slick hard and fast with the facts. "Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a walking shadow..."

What a shock to be home on Christmas Eve watching the 6 PM KEYT News on TV and to have Jeff's death show up on the screen. A true loss for Ojai, the Tri-Counties, and the world of responsible good journalism, trying to create a world of more honest politicians. From the very first issue, Volume 1, Number 1, March 1988 (I just pulled out one from my archive of early issues) Jeff created a paper which would shake up the establishment, ask the tough questions, and find any shenanigans there were out there.

I first worked with Jeff advertising my Time Portal Bookstore in the Arcade, designing various ads around my theme of Stonehenge, then later wrote the $2 Bill column for several years, which morphed into $2 Bill The Santa Barbarian, after I moved to Santa Barbara. Also did some advertising during the years I was a Realtor, and helped in distributing the paper - although Jeff did most of the work, and sometimes ALL the work. He was a one-man dynamo. (I'm still not clear from the two conflicting accounts above when Jeff died this morning at 6AM or last night at 8 PM - Gosh, we need a good investigative journalist... like Jeff.) Jeff, you will be truly missed.

William Noack ($2 Bill)
timeportal@mac.com

Just to clarify, Jeffrey collapsed at Ventura Harbor at about 6:20PM Sunday night. CPR was performed for approx. 30 minutes and he was pronounced at 7:11PM.

Ray Alpern
Ojai & Ventura Voice

Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Ventura County Star

http://venturacountystar.com/news/2007/dec/25/san-marchi-voice-owner-publisher-and-editor/

Voice owner, publisher and editor dies while delivering papers
Friends say journalist was 'one-man band'

By Marjorie Hernandez

The work of a journalist is often met with criticism, sometimes praise, and can mean long hours in the field and in the office.

No one knew this better than Jeffrey San Marchi, said friends of the Ojai/ Ventura Voice owner, publisher and editor.

For about 20 years, San Marchi ran the biweekly paper — a "one-man band," he not only wrote and designed editorial and advertorial content, but also delivered it to stands throughout Ventura County.

On Sunday night San Marchi, 57, died doing what he was most passionate about—delivering news to the local community.

San Marchi had a heart attack about 6:20 p.m. Sunday as he was stocking a newsstand at Ventura Harbor, said Ray Alpern, longtime friend and Ojai/ Ventura Voice photo and music editor. He was rushed to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 7:11 p.m.

News of San Marchi's death shocked friends who have contributed to the paper, which has a circulation of about 10,000.

"He collapsed and people tried to help him, but he, being Jeff, got up on his own, but he collapsed again," said Cathy Elliott Jones, who knew San Marchi for 11 years. "I talked to him on Thursday and he did not sound well. He was supposed to spend Christmas Eve at my house."

San Marchi was always a "champion of the underdog" and enjoyed investigating local politics, said contributing writer and San Marchi's friend of 15 years, Rellis Smith.

"If he thought politicians did something wrong, he was going to point it out," Smith said.

San Marchi started the paper from his house in Ojai and eventually expanded his coverage to Ventura. He had recently operated the paper out of his home office in Oak View, Smith said.

Friends who worked with San Marchi now must deal with trying to fill some very big shoes.

"In order for a single person to keep a small business open for 20 years is amazing ... and to do it in the business he was in, a small newspaper, is outstanding," Smith said. "No one else I know could do the job he was doing or would even want to do it."

On Monday, San Marchi's daughters, Ana and Rosa, were on their way from Arizona to Ojai, where they will meet with Jones and Alpern. Rosa San Marchi lives in Glendale and Ana San Marchi lives in Phoenix, Jones said.

For now, the fate of the paper in unknown.

Alpern said he hopes people in the community will rally to keep the newspaper going.

"Jeff was a quirky character," Alpern said. "The newspaper was his life. Putting out a 32-plus-page paper every two weeks took over his life, and on top of that, he was an investigative reporter himself. I don't think one man could do it like he did."

Jeff was good enough to publish my small "Ventura Vanities" cartoons -- I sent the first one in just "on spec" & he emailed back "keep 'em coming," so that's what I did -- I found out about his passing today, Christmas, and I'm shocked and sad & regret that I never him in person. May he rest in peace.

"Hey kid, got a funny story for yeah" was usually how I received a story/photo idea from Jeffrey W. San Marchi. As a professional journalist who had the pleasure of working with Jeff since 1993, I can't say enough about Jeff's professionalism, relentless attention to accuracy, balance and fairness, diligent thoroughness and his dogged defense of a true First Amendment press, reflected in the VOICE.
Jeff never waivered or kowtowed to the corporate and governmental interests which the U.S. Constitution had wisely provisioned the free press to defend against. Jeff "had it right" and he never ever backed down from the "Simon Legree's" in the form of the many special interests, "wacky" politicians or other corrupt individuals who rose their specter and sought unfairly influence and intimidate him. Jeffrey W. San Marchi had great respect for people, but always asked the tough questions in pursuit of that corrupt politician or inept city council member, etc.
Jeff checked out his stories far beyond the triple sourcing norm in investigative reportage. That's why the VOICE was never sued in the twenty years Jeff published -- he had the story right. In his school years Jeff was a straight A student and his razor sharp intelligence was apparent in his VOICE. His editing style brought out the individual best in the writers and photographers as he had a way of developing people to their highest potential, without overediting their personal style.
Originally, the U.S. Constitution was drafted on September 17, 1787. Jeff was keenly aware of the insidious loss of personal freedoms which have been eroding over the last 221 years. The keystone of stable government is separation of powers as laid down by the founders in the U.S. Constitution, ie: the legislative, executive and judicial branches were never to have an unfair advantage over the other.
It is said that the fourth leg of our system became the press, and its primary obligation to question governmental authority was clearly ensured by the framers of the highest law in the land, The First Amendment, in the Bill of Rights in 1789.
First Amendment -- Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
There are now very few free press publications left which are autonomous as individually owned, instead they are remotely owned and controlled by large corporate interests, and run for profit. Most often the press has now become the wolf in sheep's clothing. For instance the Ojai Valley News is no longer locally owned, but owned by Buchanan Communications, located back east and has thus, by definition, lost local autonomy. The VOICE, however, was uniquely essential in its simplicity, professional steerage and truly American grass roots base.
The Ojai and Ventura area (and beyond), with a rich and diverse people, have benefited immensely from the VOICE'S dynamic existence and truly public service. This place is not Pottersville and Jeff San Marchi IS our George Bailey, and brother. God bless.

Joel A. Anderson

Joel, I did not realize you arrived on the scene in 1993. I was thinking it was just yesterday! Thanks for all your great photographs over the years. I've enjoyed seeing them on the Voice web site
http://www.ov-voice.net/

With all due respect, I would not go so far as to say Jeff always "had the story right." I realize it is traditional to elevate fallible human beings to infallible status when they "shuffle off this mortal coil," but being that Jeff was an investigative reporter, I don't think he'd mind me saying this.

Suza,
In all my years of working with Jeff I will stand my my statment that Jeff's journalism stories were always accurate and well sourced. Perhaps you would like to post an example of where you think Jeff didn't get the story right ?

Joel A. Anderson

Thank you Joel.

Under the present circumstances, I think this is best left to the Akashic records.

Some history on the Voice and Jeffrey San Marchi...
Jeff was one of my oldest and closest friends. I first met him in 1970 when I was caretaking and working to rebuild Wheeler Hot Springs after the '69 flood, my parents property and new business, with my brother Lanny and some friends, He showed up one day with his Santa Barbara buddy, Michio Shimoda, who also became a lifelong friend from that day on. Both men had waist length hair and were high fallutin' characters. Jeff was a spitting image of Jesus. In the mid seventies he moved to Phoenix, his birthplace, and co-founded the Phoenix Food Co-op, where he soon became director. I'm not sure if its still in existance, but I know it was around for a very long time. At one point he started another business in Phoenix with a friend from Santa Barbara, Bill Austin, an advertising agency. He did that for many years and is where he honed his skills at making ads. That endeavor led to his first publication, a photo journal mag that was published either weekly or bi-weekly. I've seen him create an ad in 90 seconds, then tweak it to full completion in 3 or 4 minutes.
In 1987 Jeffrey moved back to California and was in Ojai when he discovered that the OVN was sold by Fred Voltz and was to be run by Duke Tully. Through Jeff's association with the folks at the New Times, Phoenix' alternative rag, Jeff knew all about Tully who had been the publisher of a major paper in Phoenix, and was very familiar with the right wing corporation Tully worked for and the huge scandals that ensued. He knew this state of affairs was a bad omen for Ojai, a town Jeff knew and loved.
"Maybe Ojai needs another paper," he said to me one day. He was working for David Ciaffardini's music magazine at that time. When he filled me in on the gruesome details of the whole scenario, I thought yea that would be a good idea. Of course I knew nothing about journalism or newspaper publication, but Jeff did. I was fairly knowledgable about concert promotion, having worked on the Bowlful of Blues for several years with Clarence Sterling. So I suggested having a benefit concert to jumpstart the new paper for Ojai. Which we did. Many local musicians contributed to this effort and we were able to raise enough funds and public support to get started. I was elated that the benefit worked so well and the interest from the community for the project was there. Jeff's reticence at first soon receeded. "You have no idea what we're getting into here," he told me. And he was right about that. But in the end he decided to go for it. Rebecca Plum, longtime Ojai resident, astrologer extraordinaire and yoga teacher, and myself helped put out the first several issues. Jeff lived in a small trailer at the time on El Conejo, where the Voice was created. I'll never forget what it took to put out the first one. And I've never seen anyone work like Jeff, who had the appearance of a laidback hippie, but was actually anything but. I was like the gopher, running each page over to Don Smith's cottage in Ojai to have them photographed with equipment Jeff didn't have. I made a bunch of trips that long night. Rebecca helped with formatting and layout and wrote an astrology column. Then we took the 18 flats to be printed.
March of 1988 was the first issue, as was accurately stated in the above obit comments. It felt like we just had a baby. In those early days I used to distribute the paper out of an antique baby carriage loaned to us by Zelma Wilson, a friend and supporter of the new publication, whose property I maintained at the time. People would say, "Michael, you had a baby?!" Yes I replied, and handed them a copy.
Soon after I was offered a position as Charles Brown's manager which involved quite a bit of travelling, and Rebecca went back to her life. Jeff didn't really need anyone else at that point. I couldn't believe he was doing all that by himself, but he was a dynamo as you all know. Sure he had some help from time to time. Loretta Weiss was one of his favorite workers, an artist who was invaluable in laying out the flats. Mostly though he did it all himself. 459 issues.
Jeff was not who most people thought he was. His close friends and associates, writers, photographers, contributors, knew him, but his image of the 'mad dog' was a guise. He was a kind, gentle and generous human being who had the best interests of Ojai and later Ventura, or shall we say the 'Ventura River Bio Region' and Coastal Communities, at heart. "The newspaper people love to hate." One of his favorite descriptions of the Voice. "Dude," he would say, "people are actually afraid of me." But he laughed it off as was his way.
It's hard losing a friend, you know. I'll tell you how close a friend he was. He took my calls during deadline! And I wasn't even a contributor. He was always there for me, always wanted to help, whatever was going on. It should be mentioned what a big supporter he was of local musicians and the clubs and establishments where they performed. And artists, galleries and the arts in general. He ran many, many free ads for community events that couldn't afford advertising. Illusions Theatre, the Ojai Mardi Gras, Blue Monday, Bowlful of Blues, and too many others to mention. The events I worked on would always pay what we could when we could, but if we didn't make it he was ok with that. Pretty rare policy in the newspaper biz.
He fought the good fight. I'm proud to be one of Jeff's close friends and to have played a part in the beginning of an entity that served this area so well, so consistantly for so long. God Bless you Jeffrey, and Thank You.
Michael Kaufer

Michael, your tribute brings back a flood of memories... now I remember bringing my first articles to that trailer...and the birth of the Voice in March, 1988...

What I especially like about the Voice is the column on the inside front page, "Don't Tell Me Who I Am...Let Me Guess!" by Peter Milhaldo, PH.D (I faithfully read each one with high hopes they will do me some good) and "The Other End of The Leash" by Ron Rowe, which devotes considerable space to animal advocacy...and "The Dog Behaviorist" by Kay Maxe...

The current issue (it can't be the last issue, what's gonna happen to all the columnists?)has a charming timeless mushy Christmas story, set in our modern era, by Richard Senate, "The Littlest Ornament"...

I learned of this today (Christmas) but it happened on the 23rd. I wish I'd met Jeff; we only corresponded via email, and not much of that -- I just sent in my 'toons, and like magic they'd appear. It was a good time. Jeffrey sounds like he was a hell of of a fellow (this according to to the tributes being posted on the various web articles reporting his death). A freaking hippie freethinker.
His paper was a collection of eccentric poetry-addled losers who had no prospect of being published anywhere outside Jeff's loose authorial corral. Just goony folk. An expert on spiritualism; one an authority on dogs; one a psychological guru; one who documented the very local rock scene; the one who railed against the rank politicians in the "ivory tower" (Ventura City Hell); me.
Finally, is there anything more wonderful than someone who assembles the local freaks to put on their local show? Everyone else is either (a)corporate media or (b) imitating corporate media. Jeff's folks were different, in exactly the same way a Fellini film is different from an Adam Sandler film (to use one example).
Now that crazy assembly will fly apart, and I won't know what's up with the eccentrics of Ventura-Ojai -- for each of them their world will shrink to exactly the size of their homes or apartments.
So, anyway what a wonderful thing, to have conducted that dance, so the freaks could see themselves in monochromatic print, you could hold it in your hands, someone you didn't even know would see it, it was real, it was in actual newsprint. God bless you and keep you Jeffrey San Marchi.

The amount of pages isn't what makes a newspaper great. It's the content and character of it's owner.

Most newspapers are owned by big conglomerates where the newspaper is just a small piece of a giant corporation. It shows when people care and when they don't.

Mr. San Marchi did care and fit Ojai and Ventura perfectly.

He will be missed.

Plans for a public memorial for Jeff are underway, which is tentatively set for 10:00 a.m. on Saturday. This post will be updated when a site has been determined.

The City of Ojai denied Ana and Rosa San Marchi's request to utilize the bandstand at Libbey Park.

-Cathy Elliott Jones
Attorney for the Ojai and Ventura Voice

My condolences to Jeff San Marchi's family and friends. I saw Jeff last week and had no idea it would be my last hello. He always treated me well and like a friend. I'll miss him.

An upset friend just called to alert me that the City had denied the San Marchi family's request to use the bandstand at Libbey Park for a memorial on Saturday. He pointed out that Libbey is a public park and that no one needs a permit to assemble there. This is correct; a permit and insurance are needed for a reserved event only.

I have left a message for Cathy Elliott Jones at her service to ensure that the memorial might proceed, permitted or unpermitted, as family and friends wish.

If anyone sees Cathy please ask her to call me at the number left with her service or at my listed home number. Thank you.

Rae, thank you for taking care of this. I thought this was the case, but did not have time yet to check it out.

Rae, thank you for your intervention. Ana and Rosa are joining us for dinner tonight, and I will discuss your offer with them, and whether they have recovered from the way they were treated this morning by Public Works.

To all those interested, contributions toward funeral costs and to keep the Voice alive are being accepted at any branch of Los Padres Bank under the name of Jeff San Marchi/ the Voice Fund.

-Cathy Elliott Jones
Attorney for the Ojai and Ventura Voice

My friend Jeff San Marchi passed away.
In the decades I knew him he never kissed anybody’s ass-neither from the right or the left.
I miss him.

I will miss Jeff. It was always great to see him in Pangea~ even better when accompanied by one of his beautiful daughters. He was most happiest then. I will be forever grateful for the kindness he consistantly displayed; he could see a positive in all, including Rush Limbaugh! He actually said his delivery was brillant. He was a very generous man with both his time and talents. He will be missed on every level and for me, tonight, I feel deprived of a true hero.

Dear Friends,

The memorial service for Jeffrey W. San Marchi will take place at 11:00 AM Saturday December 29th at the Twelve Oaks Estate at 625 Palomar Rd. Ojai, CA. The public is welcome and encouraged to attend. Please note that parking is limited to the streets, so please try to carpool if possible. We are investigating a remote parking site and shuttle service and details will be posted as soon as that is arranged. Please check www.ov-voice.com for the latest information. The service will take place outdoors so dress accordingly. We will have seating but since we are expecting a large turnout be prepared with a blanket to sit on the grass. Contributions to help with the funeral expenses and to help our efforts to keep the Voice alive will be greatly appreciated and can be either delivered at the service or deposited to the Jeff San Marchi / The Voice memorial fund at any branch of Los Padres Bank.

Let’s keep the spirit of Jeff alive!

Sincerely,
Ray Alpern

Jeff, I'll always remember how excited you were to place my new ad as I spoke to you last week. Your passion and commitment were truly inspiring. Rest in peace my cherished friend. Love, Randall Richman

Dear Ana & Rosa,

Your Mom told me about the sad news of your Dad's transition. Know that all three of you are in my thoughts and prayers. It's hard to find words that can console when we feel we've lost our Dad from this earth plane. Below is a poem to help put your loss in perspective.

------------
The plan of the Master Weaver:

Our lives are but fine weavings,
That God and we prepare,
Each life becomes a fabric planned,
And fashioned in His care.

We may not always see just how,
The weavings intertwine,
But we must trust the Master's hand,
And follow his design.

For He can view the pattern,
Upon the upper side,
While we must look from underneath,
and trust in Him to guide.

Sometimes a stand of sorrow,
Is added to His plan,
And though it's difficult for us,
We still must understand.
That it's He who fills the shuttle,
It's He who know what's best,
So we must weave in patience,
And leave to Him the rest.

Not till the loom is silent,
And the shuttles cease to fly,
Shall God unroll the canvas,
And explain the reason why--
The dard threads are as needed,
In the Weaver's skillful hand,
As the threads of gold and silver,
In the pattern He has planned.

-------------

I guess it's a time to stand back, take a breath, exhale, and focus on celebrating their lives, and be proud of what our Dads provided to us, and to the world in their own unique way. Your Dad clearly made a huge contribution, and personal sacrifice through his "one-man band".

Jeff was a courageous, remarkable, hard-working, nutty, really smart guy whom provided a forum by which well deserving underdogs could get the word out. As for my own experience, he helped a small group of us champion the Surfrider Foundation - Ventura County Chapter since inception. We grew with The Voice. He helped empower us to be the stewards we've become.

His passing leaves a gaping hole in this community.

Thanks for all of it Jeff.

For Jeffrey San Marchi

The night kissed the fading day
With a whisper
"I am death, your mother,
From me you will get new birth."

Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore

We love and loved you Jeffrey...

From the Ventura County Reporter

http://www.vcreporter.com/article.php?id=5560&IssueNum=156

Losing a Voice

When word came through the Reporter's office on Christmas Eve that Jeffrey W. San Marchi passed away Dec. 23, we were struck by the tragic poetry of the news. San Marchi -- the owner, publisher, and editor of the Ojai & Ventura Voice -- died while distributing his publication. One might even say that San Marchi perished in the throes of passion, as, for the past 18 years, he poured his heart and soul into getting his Voice to readers throughout western Ventura County.

While we don't have any official figures, it is fairly safe to assume that many Reporter readers also are familiar with the Voice. Like the Reporter, the Voice is a free publication often found in coffee shops, diners and along street corners throughout Ventura, Ojai and Oak View. Where our publication is a product of the collective efforts of a team of staff writers, designers, sales reps and other professionals, however, the Voice was very clearly the product of one man�s vision, Jeffrey San Marchi. Make no mistake, San Marchi had dedicated contributors and loyal fans, but the perspectives shared on the pages of his publication were clearly filtered through his eyes.

We may compete with the Voice for advertising dollars from some of our area small businesses, but we share an affinity with that publication as outlets for this community we call home. San Marchi was a colorful figure and some may have been rubbed the wrong way by his personality, but his loss doesn�t just throw into question the fate of his publication, it raises the persistent issue of the state of our local media. There was a time when cities had numerous local publications, each with its own unique slant on their community. In recent years, though, media companies have more firmly ensconced profit as their sole pursuit to the detriment of the unspoken responsibility to provide a service to the community. In some cases, all some people can count on to get their perspectives across is the sheer willpower and devotion of people like San Marchi. For better or worse, when someone like him is lost the community loses some of its identity.

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A very sincere thank you from The Voice

Ray Alpern
Ojai & Ventura Voice

No man is an Iland, intire of itselfe; every man is a peece of the Continent, a part of the maine; if a Clod bee washed away by the Sea, Europe is the lesse, as well as if a Promontorie were, as well as if a Manor of thy friends or of thine owne were; any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankinde; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.

John Donne (1573 - 1631)
Devotions XVII

Dear Anna, Rosa,

I am saddened by the loss of your Dad, one of Ojai's true free spirits.
I first met Jeff in 1989 when I started my business and decided to advertise with him.
Over the 14 years that we did business together he was kind and generous and always fiercely opinionated, a quality that I've always found to be trustworthy.
I felt that he let me "in" a little more when he introduced me to the two of you, his beloved daughters. He leaves you both a legacy that is rare in these times; he was an individualist who stood up for what he thought. His vehicle was his "Voice" and he generously made it available for others to use to express themselves too. As beautifully and strongly opinionated as he was, he also was modest. He had his ego in balance and didn't care what others thought of him, and they could not sway him from his point of view. Bravo Jeff!!!
I send you both my condolences on the loss of your father.
Our community is poorer in spirit without him.
-Lisa Sauvageau

To the family of Jeff San Marchi,
I send my sincere condolences to you and join in the community mourning and celebration of a life well lived. He provided an opportunity for the people of this valley to speak out uncensored and attack those who would sell its soul to make a few more bucks. I hope someone can pick up the torch and keep the flame alive. Who out there has the nerve and the imagination to simply quote verbatum the words of a current or next idiotic Ojai councilperson?
John Brooks CBS radio news

To Jeff's family,
I met Jeff several times, once during an intimate dinner with a mutual friend, and I felt like I had known him for years. We developed a great rapport over a simple meal and I always enjoyed reading his paper when I could (especially when Ron would take my picture at events!) I especially enjoyed acting with Rosa and I can only offer my deepest support to you and gratitude that a human being with Jeff's soul was on this planet to grace us all with his presence, fiery spirit, and courage. May his inspiration which touched so many comfort you at this time. With love.

On December 23, I called Jeffrey about 2:30 in the afternoon. We talked for about an hour. He was at Corralles, distributing papers. How do we know when it is the last time?

The first time I met Jeffrey I thought he was the strangest man I ever met. Dressed in his usual photographer's vest, jeans, and baseball cap covering shaggy grey hair, something between old hippie and homeless, he went on in a steady stream of consciousness about "what" I could only guess. I thought, if I ever understand this man, I'm in deep trouble.

As time went on, and I worked on the Voice, selling ads, writing the Foodie Newz, a shopping column and taking photos of happy smiling people, not only did I understand what he was talking about, I was adding to the mix of politics, gossip, and woes of newspaper publishing that were his favorite topics.

Despite his public persona Jeffrey was kind, and generous, and trustworthy. He would say, well, keep it to yourself, I don't wan't anyone knowing. It would ruin my image. The paper was his life. And he knew full well what he had given up. He was living the myth of Sisiphus.

In the end, it killed him.

There will never be another Jeffrey. No one will ever have his intelligence, wit, stubborn, quirky and totally lovable nature. I miss him, as we all do. I will probably still talking to him tho, and maybe he'll answer. I'll let you know if he does.

Linde Wainwright

A Tribute to Jeffrey San Marchi

Thank you, Jeffrey, for your energy, your tenacity and your ability to force individuals into confronting their truths. You were called a rabble rouser by some, a facilitator of debate by others, an opponent in some political circles, and a constant comrade to those who sought justice and truth. You were the journalistic leader whose sole focus was to champion causes that no one else would. You angered some, delighted some, opposed some, and verbally deposed some. You were loved, challenged, prodded, admired and feared. You were a great friend to both those who sat quietly on the sidelines, along with those that stood loudly in the forum. Thank you for that.

We will miss you, Jeffrey. Your Voice in the Valley may be silent now, but the unique expression of your work, the lifeblood of your community paper to us, will live on in our hearts and memories.

Safe passage, Dear Jeffrey.

I only just came across this today (I am based out of Thailand right now) and it makes me very sad. I had not seen Jeff in quite a few years, but we were close friends from the first time we met sometime in late 1968, probably sharing a joint somewhere up on Mountain Drive. Jeff, Michio, Bill & Bob (Austin), Adolf, Brendan, Danny and a lot more good friends we shared in those days.

Mostly I remember a long road trip we took together in the summer of 69, hitchhiking from Santa Barbara up the coast to Seattle and across to Boulder, Colorado where we ended up at the Holy Man Jam. Keep on trucking brother, the rainbow is just a little further up the road.