Dove library was second home to Carlsbad author

By: NOELLE IBRAHIM - Staff Writer | Saturday, January 6, 2007 10:34 PM PST ∞

CARLSBAD ---- For longtime Carlsbad resident Dona Z. Meilach, the Carlsbad Dove Library was a special place.

She did countless hours of research there for her many books, lectured about the importance of public art and, most importantly, enhanced her lifelong love affair with words.

"She loved the library because she used it so much," said Carlsbad resident Sue Kaye, Meilach's close friend and best-matched Scrabble competitor. "The library was so dear to her as an educational tool and a resource for others, she requested her ashes be scattered around the trees near there."

An author of 86 books on contemporary arts and crafts, cooking and computers, Meilach was 80 when she died of cancer Dec. 28 at the San Diego Hospice facility at Glenbrook Skilled Nursing in Carlsbad. She had been battling ovarian cancer and lymphoma since last February.

Meilach's work includes articles on the arts for popular magazines and newspapers, including The New York Times and Chicago Tribune, as well as books on topics ranging from wood furniture to ethnic jewelry, cooking to computers.

The book that launched her career as an author was "Macrame: Creative Design in Knotting" because it was the first to portray macrame as a contemporary art form, said her daughter Susan Seligman.

Seligman, an Albuquerque, N.M. resident, said her mother would derive book ideas from life experience. For example, in the 1980s, Meilach bought a computer and wrote computer and software guides, and once gave a presentation to the Pentagon on the dynamics of presentation graphics.

In later years, Meilach wrote about two crafts that had been rarely considered art until then: ironworking and blacksmithing. Her titles include "The Contemporary Blacksmith," "Architectural Ironwork," "Wood Art Today" and her final title, "Ironwork: Dynamic Details," which was released this month.

"The word 'tired' was not in her vocabulary, and neither was the word 'no,' " said Seligman. "She had the amazing ability to take information that was very complex and bring it down so that it was easy for anyone to read and understand."

Born in Chicago, Meilach earned a degree in philosophy from the University of Chicago and a master's degree in art history from Northwestern University. When they grew weary of Chicago winters, Meilach and her husband of 58 years, Melvin, moved to Carlsbad, where they lived for 27 years.

Meilach also had a passion for travel, photography, New York Times crossword puzzles and Scrabble. On Saturday mornings, Meilach could be found playing the game with Kaye and other members of the Carlsbad Scrabble Club at Stagecoach Park.

"We always tried to top each other," said Kaye, recalling how the games would often turn into gigglefests. "She was excellent company. I think our lives merged because we were interested in so many of the same things."

Seligman said Meilach was "the best friend kind of mother" who was forever youthful, positive and upbeat.

"She was the one person I could do girly things with," said Seligman, getting emotional. "My father loved to listen to us giggle all the time. She was my best friend in the world."

Meilach is survived by her husband, Melvin; daughter, Susan Seligman; son, Allen Meilach and grandsons, Jordan, Adam and Zachary Seligman.

A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. today at the Carlsbad Dove Library, 1775 Dove Lane. The family suggests donations to the Scripps Encinitas Hospital Foundation, Scripps Cancer Center, Ovarian Cancer Research or San Diego Hospice.