Farewell, Lettie

Lettie Schubert - In Memoriam

By Alan Cook

Lettie Connell Schubert of Mill Valley, 77, died of cancer on March 21. She was an important figure in American Puppetry in many capacities. She worked with the late Ralph Chesse working marionettes on "BROTHER BUZZ" on Bay Area TV, and had her own TV show as well. Her early puppet work was entwined with Ralph Chesse's (he taught puppetry at SF State U). Lettie directed Oakland's Vagabond Puppet Theater which visited Oakland parks, where she mentored Jerry Juhl, the third person to join the Muppets as puppeteer and script writer, and she also mentored Frank Oz who joined the Muppets after work with Vagabond and graduating from high School.

Bruce Chesse (Ralph's surviving son) describes Lettie as the glue which held the San Francisco Bay Area Guild of Puppetry together in the 1950s and 1960s. She was a force of major importance to San Francisco, California and National puppetry, conducted manipulation workshops, organized regional and national puppetry festivals in the Bay Area, Asilomar and the Los Angeles area and served the national Puppeteers of America, Inc. Lettie follows Perry Dilley and Ralph Chesse in the Bay area in historical sequence.

She is survived by husband Gage, son David and daughter Becky.

Memorial info TBA.