Shelly Harris Gerstein

With profound sadness, we announce the passing of Shelly Harris Gerstein. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, on May 1, 1945, he passed away peacefully at his Readfield, Maine home on May 4, 2025, with his beloved wife by his side.

A multifaceted individual, Shelly was a writer, magazine editor and publisher, software and web developer, computer programmer, business consultant, unique thinker, and avid coffee drinker. His sharp intellect, endearing curiosity, and humor made him a cherished figure in every community he embraced.

Shelly's early years in West Los Angeles were spent within a large close-knit family. His intellectual journey led him to the University of California, Berkeley, followed by travels through Europe as a writer. He eventually settled in Northern California, making his home for many years in Gualala. There he built a house, was the local dump attendant, ran a backhoe business, served on the local arts and school board, and published and edited Coast & Valley magazine for a decade. In 1997, he moved to Healdsburg and later Windsor, where he did the digital imagesetting for Healdsburg Printing and became Marketing VP of Luthiers Mercantile International (LMI).

In 2005, Shelly began his two decades of lakeside living in Maine. Even in retirement, he contributed his skills by helping develop an online registration system and website for the University of Maine at Augusta Senior College. More recently, he passionately pursued a project aimed at illuminating fundamental insights from modern anthropology to challenge what he termed "the false assumptions about human nature that we all take for granted," hoping to demonstrate their relevance in improving today's world.