The passing of Gary Anderson

[mdsalemi]

It is with great sadness and a heavy heart that I am reporting on the recent passing of Gary Anderson. Gary was the editor of The Star magazine for the Mercedes-Benz Club of America, for 13 years and 69 issues. He retired in 2019, and moved from California to Ashland Oregon.

Under his tenure the magazine just continued to get better and was always winning awards.

His passing was quite sudden and unexpected.

[Amy McKenna]

So sorry to hear about Gary. He truly made significant contributions to MBCA as Editor of The STAR.

[zoegrlh]

OMG what sad news. He was such a nice person. Spoke to him several times at Starfest in the past. Do you think COVID-19 have something to do with his passing?
Bob

[zak]

Sad. He was a great and talented guy. He brought that magazine to excellence.

[mmizesko]

Condolences to all that knew the man...

[jjbrooks]

Oh - my - just saw this and am floored - sad news indeed. I first met Gary at a civic function in Los Altos before I joined MBCA and SL113 -  a very nice guy working on various marketing projects and who also wrote the car section in the Los Altos Town Crier newspaper I thought.  Imagine my surprise when years later I received my first issue of The Star and saw that Gary was also its editor!  The last time we chatted Gary mentioned that he was about to drive with a procession of select few classic and exotic cars chosen by CalTrans to officially reopen of the stretch of CA-1 that had been closed due to a rain-induced landslide years before.  What a smile he had just describing the planned event for me!  I sure hope that he is now smiling at us Pagoda fans from above!  Rest easy Gary.

[lurtch]

This is indeed a sobering and sad bit of news. I remember sharing lunch conversation with Gary at Park Avenue Motors in Palo Alto when they hosted a dealer open house event years ago.  At that time (2004?) I was just beginning to embrace my interest in Mercedes-Benz and his personal charisma and enthusiasm  for the brand made a big impression on me.



His obituary is available here:
https://ashland.news/obituary-gary-g-anderson/

Larry in CA

[mdsalemi]

Larry and others,

While he was alive, I was aghast that the MBCA did little to nothing to celebrate and honor his 13 years tenure and stewardship of the MBCA's greatest asset, The Star magazine, which of course is often mentioned here. As a tribute, I put together a celebration book and this was presented to him in April 2021. Though only one book was made (and three stripped down copies for those that helped fund it) you can see the book here in an online flip book format:

http://m1lk.co/uovb739i

The book was created as a memory book, and every cover, and details from the time period of every issue are included, along with tributes from those who knew him well, worked with him, and also people at MBUSA.

He was a great friend and I worked with him closely for six years. He is missed.