Cynthia Wynn Taylor Citron, born September 16, 1934, in Boston, died November 11, 2023, in New York, of pneumonia and old age.
For nearly 20 years she was a well known theater critic in Los Angeles, writing for the Santa Monica Daily Press, San Diego Jewish World (for which she served as L.A. County Bureau Chief), Heritage, L.A. Stage Times, the Examiner, and ReviewPlays.com. From 2002 to 2006 she was the theater reviewer on the Ira Fistell Show on KABC Radio. She was quoted often in advertisements for the plays she reviewed. (Her San Diego Jewish World articles can be found here.)
She studied anthropology at UCLA and at 19 married Robert Citron. To join him at Clark Air Base in the Philippines, she undertook a three-week journey as one of the only passengers on a tramp steamer. She completed her undergraduate degree at the University of the Philippines.
It was the first of many overseas adventures. Over the next decades she lived in Los Angeles, Florida, Spain, South Africa, Ethiopia, Norway, Boston, Hartford, New York, Los Angeles, and finally (again) New York.
While in Ethiopia she served as press officer and assistant to the Commissioner for the Ethiopian National Pavilions at Expo ‘67 in Montreal and Expo ‘70 in Osaka. She wrote an award-winning documentary film, “Man In Ethiopia,” which was featured at both Expos. Afterwards, Emperor Haile Selassie awarded her the Makonnen Gold Medal for historic service to the Ethiopian empire.
In Boston, she was Director of Publications at Boston University, serving as editor of Bostonia, the University’s alumni magazine (which won many awards under her leadership), and as public relations director for the School for the Arts. She also co-founded Earthwatch, the scientific research expedition organization, in partnership with her husband. They divorced in 1974.
Later, she was an associate vice president for Public Affairs of the University of Hartford; Communications Director for CARE, the international relief and development agency; and, upon returning to Los Angeles, Public Relations Director for City of Hope.
She is survived by her son, three daughters, 17 grandchildren, and 41 great-grandchildren.
Republished from San Diego Jewish World