Katherine (Trin) Allison Yarborough

Trin Yarborough, an author and lifelong journalist as well as a beloved mother and grandmother, died October 9, 2021, in Rockville, MD, at the age of 86.Yarborough believed deeply in helping oppressed people and fighting for justice around the world. Born in Norman, Oklahoma, she saw from an early age the rampant racism in the South, so she devoted her life to fighting for civil rights and against oppression wherever she found it. A gifted writer, she was named the best journalist in her graduating class at the University of Oklahoma and started out as a crime reporter at the daily newspaper The Houston Press in Texas. She quickly earned her own weekly column at the paper, and later went on to write for The Los Angeles Times, the L.A. Weekly, the L.A. City News Service and BAM magazine, among other publications, and she also went on to work at The Institute for Policy Studies, Oxfam America, Americans for Democratic Action and the ACLU. She wrote constantly, including everything from novels to screenplays, before achieving her dream of publishing a nonfiction book titled "Surviving Twice" about the children who were born to Vietnamese women and American soldiers during the Vietnam War. Her book told the story of how many of these children were ostracized by their Vietnamese families for years before the government shipped them to the United States, where they were often rejected again by their American fathers.Yarborough had boundless kindness, curiosity and creativity, and she loved meeting new people, trying new things and discovering music from all over the world. She lived in France, Spain and London and also traveled throughout Africa and South America. She was married to Democratic Texas politician Don Yarborough for 17 years, during which time he ran for governor of Texas during the 1960s with her by his side, and they had four children together. Yarborough is survived by her four children: Inez Yarborough Vanderburg of Austin, TX; Francey Yarborough of Rockville, MD; Leverett Yarborough of Hilo, Hawaii; and Sophie Yarborough de Vise of Garrett Park, MD; as well as by her four grandchildren: Grace Vanderburg and Rose Vanderburg of Austin, Texas; and Madeleine de Vise and Donovan de Vise of Garrett Park, MD. She is also survived by her sister, Jamie Murphy of Arlington, Texas.Yarborough will be interred at Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles, California.

In lieu of flowers, , please send donations to Oxfam America, which fights world hunger.

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