In memory of Celeste De Blasis
Celeste N. De Blasis was born on May 8, 1946 in Santa Monica, California. She grew up at the Kemper Campbell Ranch in Victorville, California located in the high Mojave Desert. She was the daughter Jean De Blasis. Jean De Blasis and Joseph Campbell are the children of author Mrs. Kemper Campbell (Litta Belle Campbell). Joseph, who passed away in 1990, was a Superior Court judge. Jean served as a councilwoman in Victorville. Celeste De Blasis attended Wellesley College, later transferred to Oregon State University, and in 1968 was graduated from Pomona College where longing to be back home at the ranch had drawn her. She continued to live on the ranch until her death of cancer on April 13, 2001.
"Though my parents could ill afford it, they helped give me and my brother David time to savor different cultures," she said. "They were wise in their knowledge that realization of a dream should not be put off. Shortly after David returned home, he found that he was suffering from a rare and fast-growing form of cancer. He fought an incredible battle for two years. His laughter, wit, courage, and dignity never failed; only his body could not bear the burden." David died two years later in September, 1973, at the age of twenty-five. A week before David died, she finished the manuscript of The Night Child and sent it to her agent. When told of it, David answered her that it would be a success. And it was.
Her final book did not follow her proven historical romance formula. It was a biographical work titled "Graveyard Peaches" about her life at the Kemper Campbell Ranch in Victorville, California. After the publication of this work, Celeste De Blasis battled cancer until her death in 2001. She was cremated and her ashes were spread along her favorite trail at the Kemper Campbell Ranch where she had walked nearly everyday.
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