This is a story about death in the age of COVID-19. It is the story of one death — my mother’s — but it is emblematic of hundreds that are starting to happen, quietly and quickly, across the country.

Daphne White
Freelancer Daphne White began her reporting career in Atlanta and then worked as a journalist in Washington, DC, for more than a decade. She covered Congress, education and teachers’ unions, and then produced multimedia programs for the World Bank. Daphne’s articles have appeared in The Washington Post; Hemispheres (the United Airlines magazine); Foundation News & Commentary; National Wildlife Magazine; and others. Daphne founded and ran a national nonprofit advocacy organization for 10 years, but then escaped the Beltway for Berkeley in 2014. She started writing for Berkeleyside in 2016, and enjoys covering nonprofits and change agents among other things.
Thousands gather at readings, dinners and theaters to discuss life — and death
The Reimagine End of Life Festival, which runs through Nov. 3, confronts the taboo of death. It creates community through plays, talks, books and other art forms.
Berkeley City Club will be ‘endangered’ unless needed repairs are funded
As the beautiful building designed by Julia Morgan prepares to celebrate its 100th birthday, it is also kicking off a 10-year, $10 million effort to finance long-deferred structural repairs.
Please don’t fly in 2020: From Sweden to Berkeley, the ‘flight shaming’ movement takes off
Reducing flight miles has a dramatically larger impact on the environment than other actions. A fledgling “no-fly” movement suggests we not fly for one year.
At Cal Performances, it’s not enough just to put on an event. The audience should understand the artistry, too.
Sabrina Klein , the director of artistic literacy at Cal Performances, wants to start a movement to better engage audiences.
A new reality in Berkeley? Multi-million dollar homes for all-cash SF buyers
Houses in Berkeley are being given total rebuilds and high-end finishes to appeal, it seems, to transplants from across the bay looking for pleasant, walkable neighborhoods.
Berkeley home buyers scoff at gutted duplex asking $1.1 million
A gutted duplex in North Berkeley does not draw the same kind of excitement as similar structures in Silicon Valley and San Francisco.
Digitization project reveals unseen ‘guerrilla’ footage that revolutionized TV
A collective of Bay Area video makers called TVTV ushered in the era of handheld cameras and on-the-spot interviews. Their 1970s work will soon be publicly available at BAMPFA.
Taking abortion out of the shadows and putting it on stage at Shotgun Players
“You may hate it or you may love it, but you are going to have to go home and be with it.”
Relatively small crowd at Decision America rally where Franklin Graham says ‘God has not forsaken Berkeley’
The controversial preacher said he came to Berkeley because his staff urged him not to, saying progressives wouldn’t listen to him. People did show up, but not in great numbers.
Franklin Graham, son of Billy, to hold prayer rally in ‘godless’ Berkeley
The controversial preacher and Trump supporter is coming to Ground Zero of the American progressive movement with messages both religious and political.
Berkeley residents must take responsibility to reduce fire hazards starting now, fire chiefs say
While 2017 was the most destructive year ever for wildfires, 2018 is already proving worse. Fire officials are encouraging people to clear brush and plan fire evacuation routes.