Erin Renee Perry

Erin Perry "Don't be delicate, be vast and brilliant." These were the words Erin Perry of Morro Bay lived by. Born in Azusa in 1952, Erin left us Aug. 5, 2015, after a truly courageous battle with pancreatic cancer. Erin was many things: a loving wife, an amazing mother, a voracious reader, professional librarian, mixed-media artist, opera singer, and blogger. Most of all she was an inspiration, a loyal and incredibly funny woman who went through hell and came out the other side. She was a proud second generation Californian, daughter of Paul and Becky Perry. As a child, she wanted to be a cowboy, but settled for excelling in school, playing a mean trombone, and getting her B.A. in Music from CSULA. Erin moved to the Central Coast in 1980 to homestead on 10 acres in Pozo. She took many jobs to support her family, ending up at the San Luis Obispo County Library, both the main library and in Cambria. A lover of music, Erin raised her coloratura contralto voice in the '90s with a local amateur opera group, most notably singing the title role in Carmen. That role, she said, also taught her how to flirt. This skill came in handy when she met the love of her life, Margot Silk Forrest. They were domestically partnered in May 2004 and legally married in June 2008. In the mid-2000s, Erin discovered a passion for making altered books and mixed-media art. Her work was covered in the New Times, the Tribune, Somerset Studio and Cloth, Paper, Scissors Studio magazines. She had one-woman shows at Linnea's Caf‚ and the Cambria Library, and was featured artist at the Cambria Center for the Arts. Of her work, she remarked wryly, "Not bad, for someone who failed 'cut and paste' in kindergarten!" Erin passed peacefully at home, surrounded by family and loving friends. To the end, she remained mischievous as ever, unflinchingly brave, and subtly sarcastic. She is survived by her devoted wife, Margot; daughters, Bronwyn Ember and Jenny Bierbaum, and sisters, Wendy Pillsbury and Becky Anne Kehler. Memorial gifts may be made to Central Coast Hospice. Arrangements entrusted to McDermott-Crockett and Associates Mortuary (805) 569-2424.