PASSINGS: Daniel Douma, May L. To
Daniel Douma, co-founder of the Writers Store in L.A.
Daniel Douma, 63, who co-founded the Writers Store in Los Angeles to provide software and computer help to screenwriters, died of cancer June 1 in Florence, Ore., said Gabriele Meiringer, his life partner of 32 years.
Douma and Meiringer opened what they called the Writers’ Computer Store in Los Angeles in 1982. They transcribed scripts, sold personal computers and expanded into creating software that would allow scriptwriters to use early word-processing systems.
The store, now in Westwood and owned by Douma’s son Jesse, offers software and other equipment for screenwriters, filmmakers and other writers.
Born Oct. 6, 1946, in Patterson, N.J., Douma was a singer and songwriter who was an opening act for Fleetwood Mac during the group’s Tusk Tour in 1979 and ’80. He released a solo album in 1979 called “Night Eyes.”
Douma retired to Oregon in 2004.
May L. To, executive director of Asian Youth Center
May L. To, 59, the longtime executive director of the Asian Youth Center in San Gabriel, died of cancer May 8 at a Whittier hospice, said her husband, Alex To.
FOR THE RECORD:
May To obituary: A brief obituary in Thursday’s LATExtra section on May L. To, executive director of the Asian Youth Center in San Gabriel, said that she was born in Canton, now known as Guangdong, China. She was born in the city of Canton, now known as Guangzhou. The Canton province is now known as Guangdong. —
She became program coordinator of the Asian Youth Center when it opened in 1989 and its first executive director in 1990. The nonprofit center began as a United Way project focusing on the needs of Asian immigrants. To expanded the center into a leading provider of social services in the San Gabriel Valley.
To was born Man-May Lai in Canton, now known as Guangdong, China, on Oct. 28, 1950. She earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Chinese University of Hong Kong in 1975 and a master’s in education from UCLA in 1979.
Before coming to the Asian Youth Center, To worked at the International Institute of Los Angeles, the Chinatown Service Center and taught English as a second language in the Alhambra School District.
— Times staff and wire reports
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