Jonathan Newhall

1941 - 2021

Jonathan Newhall, scrappy journalist turned software engineer and thriller writer, died unexpectedly on Friday, February 19, 2021, in Oakland following a pulmonary embolism. He was 79.

Born in Palo Alto in 1941 to Chronicle journalists Scott and Ruth Newhall, Jon grew up in Berkeley and began his journalism career early – as a copyboy at The Chronicle.

After graduating from Cate School in Carpinteria in 1959 and from Stanford in 1964, Jon moved to Newhall, the southern California town founded by his great-great-grandfather, gold rush-era pioneer Henry Mayo Newhall. There, he served as general manager, then editor, of his family’s often controversial paper, The Newhall Signal.

In the 1970s, Jon turned his journalism skills and social conscience to founding the San Francisco-based Zodiac News Service, reporting anti-war, civil rights and counterculture news.

During those turbulent times, Jon’s intent was to provide reliable news stories, produced according to journalistic ethics and standards, to outlets seeking sources of news not reported in the mainstream media. At its height, Zodiac served hundreds of print and broadcast subscribers across the U.S. and Canada.

Following Zodiac, Jon reinvented himself as a software engineer, working at Bay Area companies that included John Boeschen & Co., Computer Logics, Simborg Systems, Oacis, SAIC, and GLR Consulting.

In retirement he took up writing political thrillers from his home in Oakland. He finished his last novel just weeks before his death.

Jon’s generosity and open-hearted spirit will be profoundly missed by all who knew him.

He is survived by his wife, Barbara Falconer Newhall; his children, Peter Newhall (Emily) of Minneapolis, and Christina Newhall (Tim Beedle) of Studio City; his brother Skip Newhall (Lorie) and his twin brother Tony Newhall (Reena) of Valencia; two granddaughters, and many loving cousins, nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his parents Scott and Ruth Newhall and sister Penny Newhall.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to Friends of the Oakland Public School Libraries.