Carol Darlene Blackman M.A. ’77 was a native San Franciscan who graduated from Lowell High School, obtained her B.A. in communications from San Francisco State University, and her master’s in education from SCU. Carol had a special love for children and worked on their behalf for more than 30 years. With a B.A. in communications and a M.A. in educational psychology and the education of children with learning disabilities, she designed, managed, and evaluated innovative special education programs that became the models for Santa Clara County schools and the state of California. In 1979, she worked as a volunteer to help launch Friends for Youth and served as one of the first board members. In 1998, she helped create as well as serve as the first director of the Friends for Youth Mentoring Institute. Her life and passions were very diverse and interesting with many success endeavors. She was an accomplished special education teacher, a journalist with two daily newspapers, the Peninsula Times Tribune and the San Jose Mercury News, a member of the U.S. Support Committee for the League of the San Francisco Consular Corps, and the author of five nonfiction books. At age 71, she passed away unexpectedly, yet peacefully, at home on Thanksgiving Day doing what she loved, preparing a beautiful Thanksgiving meal. Carol was predeceased by her mother, Annie Grimstad, and her father, Peter Grimstad, both of whom had emigrated from Norway. She is survived by many wonderful friends, some of whom have known Carol since her preschool days.