Former Fresno Bee journalist Diana Marcum, who went on to a Pulitzer Prize-winning career at The Los Angeles Times, has died at 60.

Marcum had a glioblastoma removed from her brain in early July but fell into a coma shortly after surgery at Fresno Community Regional Medical Center. She never fully recovered and died Wednesday night, the Times reported.

Marcum grew up wanting to be a journalist and it was a good fit for her creative, inquisitive mind. Another of her gifts was the ability to connect with people and get them to open up during interviews.

She won the Pulitzer for her extensive series of stories on the California drought in 2015, in which she traveled to many rural towns in the San Joaquin Valley.

Later, a trip to the Azores inspired her acclaimed 2018 memoir, “The Tenth Island: Finding Joy, Beauty, and Unexpected Love in the Azores.”

Read more at this Los Angeles Times link.

And here’s a 2021 interview with Marcum at Zocalo Public Square.

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