Miv Schaaf; Activist, Ex-Times Columnist

Miv Schaaf, a historical preservationist and former Times columnist, has died. She was believed to be in her 70s.

She died Aug. 6 in Big Lagoon, Calif., near Eureka, where she had lived in retirement.

Schaaf wrote the column “Things,” which appeared in The Times’ View section (now Life & Style) from 1972 to 1987. Her final column, published Oct. 4, 1987, offered a farewell to the house where she had raised a daughter, dogs and a garden, and where she had been widowed in 1984. She ended the column: “I wish you joy, and time to think.”

In her final years in Northern California, Schaaf continued to write, producing columns and articles for the North Coast Journal.

During her four decades in the Los Angeles area, she worked in advertising and operated her own graphic design and advertising business, Miv Schaaf Associates.

An advocate of historical preservation, she set up the Pasadena Cultural Heritage Commission in 1973 and co-wrote the Pasadena Cultural Heritage Ordinance.

Schaaf also worked to promote public libraries and was a frequent speaker at librarians’ conferences. She earned awards from the Metropolitan Cooperative Library System and the California Library Assn.

Her books reflected her interests in preservation and libraries--”Residential Architecture in Southern California” and “Who Can Not Read About Crocodiles,” about the joys of reading.

A cellist, Schaaf was also a member of the Tuesday Musicale in Southern California. She studied music theory and composition at Humboldt State University.

Schaaf is survived by one daughter, Gia.