Deborah (Debbie) Berne died Dec. 24, loved by family and friends, at her Oakland home after a two-year battle with glioblastoma. She passed away five days before her 56th birthday.
Debbie’s first book, “The Design of Books” (The University of Chicago Press), published just weeks after her diagnosis. The book drew on her more than 20 years as a professional book designer and has since been translated into three languages.
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Debbie’s extensive career included work for Berkeley’s Parallax Press; the iconic “How To” mindfulness series by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh is still seen at bookstores everywhere. Cookbooks became her specialty, with highlights such as “The Berkeley Bowl Cookbook” and the first two “Official Downton Abbey” cookbooks.
During her struggle with cancer, Debbie began and completed her second book. Her passion kept her trekking back and forth to the Berkeley, UC Berkeley, and Rockridge libraries, as she researched, wrote, and designed “Cookbooking: A Fan’s Guide,” to be published in 2026 by Hardie Grant in Berkeley. In Debbie’s own words, “There are so many books written about food, and this isn’t going to be one of them. Rather, ‘Cookbooking: A Fan’s Guide’ is a book about books about food.”
This obituary is part of an Oaklandside remembrance collection, honoring some the remarkable lives lived in this city. If you’d like to submit an obit for a loved one in our next collection, please get in touch.
Debbie loved to make music. She played banjo in the Squirrelly String Band, which spent a decade as the house band at the North Oakland Square Dance and played at music festivals up and down the West Coast.
Debbie lived fully, authentically, and with purpose. When she was diagnosed with brain cancer, she adopted the motto “no day but today,” inspired by one of her favorite musicals, “Rent.” While going through treatment, she wrote, read, traveled, danced, exercised, baked, ate what she wanted, and cherished her time with family and her large circle of friends, all of whom loved her distinctive laugh.
Debbie Berne, center, with husband David Murray and child Helvetica. Credit: Courtesy Berne family
Born in West Orange, NJ, in December 1969, Debbie grew up in West Bloomfield, MI, graduated from the University of Michigan with a major in art history, and completed graduate work at the University of Chicago. After school, she moved to New York City and then San Francisco, before settling in North Oakland.
Debbie is survived by her husband, David Murray; their child, Helvetica Berne; parents, Edward and Judith Doner Berne of Oakland; brother, David Berne of Los Angeles; sister, Jennifer Berne of Madison, WI; and the aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, and nephew who make up her loving family.
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