Laurie Jane Drake

Laurie Jane Drake passed away on January 25, 2023 at the age of 68 in Newport Beach, California after a brief but valiant struggle with lung cancer. She lived life to the fullest, loving tennis, dogs, travel and fashion. She played tennis nearly every day with dear friends at Newport’s Palisades Tennis Club. A long-time dog lover, she volunteered with the Southern California Labrador Retriever Rescue for 14 years. In the last two years, her newfound passion for roses led her to join the Orange County Rose Society, entering her beautiful roses in their rose shows, and volunteering to prune and maintain the rose garden at the Nixon Presidential Library. Career wise she had 30 years of experience in publishing, starting with her first job out of UCLA at Vogue magazine in NYC, where she was on the editorial staff for 13 years. After moving back to southern California in 1991, she became a freelance beauty writer and was a contributing editor to Allure magazine. She wrote numerous articles for publications including The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Vogue, Glamour, Self, Prevention, Saveur, Shape, Spa, Health, Westways, Country Living and In Style. Her website articles were published on RealAge.com, SpaFinderLifestyle.com, and TheStyleGlossy.com.

Laurie is survived by her partner Joe Rothman of Newport Beach, two sisters Susan Drake and Diana Drake Long (Robert) of Newport Beach, nephew Ryan Drake Long of Atascadero, CA, niece Kelsey Long Tis (Bobby), great nephew Robert Baker Tis and great niece Rory Magnolia Tis of Jacksonville, FL. Laurie was preceded in death by her parents Jane and Claude Drake of Whittier, CA where Laurie was born and raised.