Gaye LeBaron

Gaye Theresa LeBaron (born 1935)[1] is an American newspaper columnist, author, teacher, and local historian of Sonoma County, California.

[2] She commented on things that make us angry, like the homes rising on the ridges around Santa Rosa, and the seasonal beauty of Sonoma County – mustard in spring vineyards and, in the fall, the brilliant yellow of the ginkgo trees along McDonald Avenue.

She planned to teach high school in Redding after graduation, but when a staff position opened at the newspaper in September 1957, she opted to take that instead.

[2][1] By 2001, LeBaron had produced more than 8,000 columns for The Press Democrat, ranging from human interest to cultural events to ethnic history to local politics.

[1] She was even mentioned by a fictional character in Greg Sarris' 1998 novel Watermelon Nights:[6][7] "Patrick's studying journalism," I said, then thought of Mother's limitations.

[10] U.S. Representative for California's 5th congressional district Mike Thompson named her Sonoma County Woman of the Year in 2015.

[13] When she joined The Press Democrat as a reporter in 1957, John LeBaron, seven years her senior, was working as a photographer for the paper.