The Friday Flyer • June 16, 2017
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CANYON LAKE’S NEWSPAPER • JUNE 16, 2017
Residents pay tribute to dads for Father's Day Pg. A7
Connect body, mind with new Yoga by the Lake class Pg. A12
Steve Libring volunteers behind the scenes Pg. A14
Canyon Lake lose
s a legend
es
Carolyn Knight, the first editor of The Friday Flyer and community advocate, died Tuesday after battling major health issues her entire adult life. Carolyn was the editor of the newspaper for 25 years before retiring in 2007.
“Carolyn
cared more
about her fellow
man than she ever did about herself,” The Friday Flyer publisher Chuck Golding said. “Throughout her life, she advocated for others and, consequently, changed their lives. The Friday Flyer was her baby, but there was much more to this great lady than the paragraphs she crafted in our newspaper.”
Carolyn’s first major crusade was covered by CBS’s 60 Minutes with Harry Reasoner and included testifying before Congress. She had almost died nine different times after ingesting sulfites to which she was allergic. Along with Michael Jacobsen, the founder for the Center for Science in the Public Interest, she sued the bureau of AFT and ultimately got wine labeled. Her efforts also resulted in regulations requiring notices at places like salad bars and Chinese restaurants. Her story is told in a book she authored, Canary in a Coal Mine.
Her lungs were damaged from these sulfites and she had her first of many near-death visits to emergency rooms as a result.
This first historical advocacy landed her many honors, including receiving a bronze plaque at the Staples Center and being named Riverside County’s “Distinguished Woman of the Year” by the YWCA and other civic groups.
Later, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and met the challenge head on, with bravery and dignity. After a successful mastectomy, she advocated for other women
with the same
cancer. She was
one of the found-
ers of the support group “Bosom Bud- dies,” an organization for which she was par- ticularly proud.
She became active in the Susan G. Ko- men Foundation and other cancer aware- ness programs. She was honored as River- side County’s “Local Hero” in a fund-raising event hosted by BMW of Riverside’s “Drive fortheCure”promo- tion.
Her sulfite-infected
lungs continued to
cause major health
problems. For most
of her later years, she
made trips to the hospital and was supposedly on her death bed after major infections, but repeatedly cheated death and returned to full function in short order.
This latest trip to the hospital several months ago came after a fall resulted in a broken hip. She had hip replacement surgery, but the new hip continued to dislodge. Her health quickly deteriorated, but she was determined to keep one last promise. Although flat on her back on a hospital gurney, she attended her granddaughter Hannah’s wedding last month. Shortly thereafter, her hip became infected and, living with her daughter Meri Faria in Murrieta, passed away surrounded by her family on Tuesday morning.
Carolyn was born on Oct. 6, 1944 in Kansas City, Missouri. She would later marry Vick Knight, the director of development at Children’s Hospital of Orange County where she worked as his intern in the communications department. They married after a 3-year courtship on June 6, 1981. That same year, the newlyweds moved to Canyon Lake. Carolyn brought to Canyon Lake her two daughters from a previous marriage, Kathy, who was crowned Miss Canyon Lake
CAROLYNKNIGHT
Carolyn Knight takes
a walk with her late husband Vick Knight while on vacation in Bristlecone Pine.
later that year, and Meri, who attended the local high school. Her children and the subsequent grandchildren were her and Vick’s joy.
“Of all my accomplishments,” Carolyn would say on several occasions, “the best thing I ever did was to have Kathy and Meri.”
Despite her post-high school education being cut short after getting married at age 18, Carolyn had set a goal to obtain her college degree. After 14 years of study, she obtained her BA in American Studies at California State University at Fullerton.
Writing has always been in Carolyn’s blood. While in junior high school she had an extra elective available to her. She said her mother suggested taking a journalism class. From there she was named the editor of her junior high school newspaper as well as her high school and Long Beach college newspapers. She continued to write professionally at Smith International and Carl Karcher Enterprises. Later, she would write corporate histories for these companies.
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