Through my former classmate Cyrus, I learned about the unexpected passing of Masako Kasai on September 26, 2024. Instantly I felt a profound sadness. Luckily, Debbie came to visit Paul and me in Santa Cruz that Sunday, September 29. We were joined by more friends during 2024 Open Studio pre-exhibit hosted by Santa Cruz Art League. All these gatherings provided us with much needed reminiscent opportunities.
Masako was one of our original study group members at Berkeley. Never working in a library prior to 1990, I was floundering after missing nearly a month's time when the Library School started its session. It was the study group that rescued me from deep trouble, thanks to a long tradition of Berkeley campus to encourage students to free form their study groups, so as to help each other. Before long, I was in a group consisting of Cyrus, Laura and Masako. Both Cyrus and Masako had been cataloging for years for GTU (Graduate Theologian Union) and East Asian Library at Berkeley. I benefitted tremendously from their expertise and handheld patience. In preparation of our Pacific Rim Library project for Buckland's Library Management class, our group was augmented with two more members, Elizabeth and Debbie.
After a full and intensive academic year, most of us graduated with our Masters degree. Elizabeth moved from San Francisco to a small town in California while Laura went to work for Library of Congress. Debbie stayed on to finish a couple of more classes, whereas I continued with the Graduate Certificate program in the face of a statewide hiring freeze. However we had weekends and holidays to ourselves. We four permanent members would choose a fresh restaurant for our Friday night dinner each week. Very soon, we tasted nearly all the eateries in Oakland, Berkeley, Albany and El Cerrito. Whenever we made a poor choice, we would excessively express our disappointment. Only Masako could laugh it off lightly. Unlike the harried usual me, Masako always remained her calm and elegant self. She told me that she and her husband immigrated from Japan in the early eighties. They had two daughters.
In the mid nineties, Masako moved with her husband from San Rafael to a castle-like building perched high in Napa County. While beautiful and secluded, the new residence became a challenge for professional careers other than the wine business. Masako quit her Berkeley position to work for a law firm in the City by long daily commute. But the law firm job did not last too long. A few years later, it started to lay off its employees, among whom was Masako.
Masako contacted me to see if I knew someone working at San Francisco Public Library (SFPL). Doris, one of my Extra Help colleagues at Santa Clara County Library, happened to be a fulltime librarian there, and she just chanced to find out that her library was indeed looking for a Japanese cataloger. With Doris and my aggressive nudging and pushing, Masako applied and got the position. She worked and retired from SFPL. During the time she was working there, Masako and I would meet for lunch or chat in her workplace whenever I had conferences or workshops in San Francisco. She and I had been exchanging Christmas cards ever since I moved back to Santa Cruz from 1996 until 2023 when she was apparently too sick to reply. I always treasure her beautiful cards.
Over the years, Masako also visited my family in Santa Cruz with Debbie and Cyrus until I was told that she had developed Parkinson's disease which eventually claimed her life and smile. We miss you, Masako! Please rest in peace. There is no more long commute and illness pestering you.
