Passings: Stefanie Zweig, Dan Colchico

Stefanie Zweig

German-Jewish writer wrote autobiography ‘Nowhere in Africa’

Stefanie Zweig, 81, a German-Jewish writer best known for her autobiographical novel “Nowhere in Africa,” died Friday after a “short, serious illness,” her nephew Walter Zweig told the German news agency dpa.

A movie adaptation of “Nowhere in Africa” written and directed by Caroline Link won the Academy Award for best foreign language film in 2003.

Link constructed her film around the story of the Zweig family’s refugee experience on another continent.

“I tried to show what the Holocaust meant for people who left Germany early enough to survive,” Link said in a 2003 interview with the New York Times, “but who still suffered terribly because they had to leave their homes, their lives and their loved ones behind.”

Zweig was born in 1932 in Leobschuetz, now part of Poland. In 1938, her family fled the Nazi persecution of Jews and moved to Kenya, where she attended a British school.

Zweig returned to Germany in 1947 and worked as a journalist for many years before she began writing novels.

Of her more than two dozen books “Nowhere in Africa,” first published in 1995, was the most successful, retelling the story of her family’s time in Kenya.

Dan Colchico

San Francisco 49ers defensive end in 1960s

Dan Colchico, 76, a defensive end for the San Francisco 49ers in the 1960s, died Sunday, the team announced. According to the Contra Costa Times, Colchico died of complications of heart surgery at his home in Concord, Calif.

A Bay Area native, Colchico was a seventh-round draft pick by the 49ers in 1959 out of San Jose State. He debuted in 1960 and played in 67 games with 64 starts during six seasons. He also played in nine games for the New Orleans Saints in 1969.

He received the 1962 Len Eshmont Award for inspirational and courageous play representative of Eshmont, a member of the first 49er squad in 1946.

After an injury in 1965, Colchico stayed with the franchise for two more seasons, working one year in public relations and another as defensive line coach.

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