Verena Anderson

1968 -1997 Part-Time (b. April 23, 1916, d. July 1, 1998) A.B., San Diego State College (1938); M.A. San Diego State College (1963)

Part-time instructor Verena Cronburg Anderson joined the English Department in 1968, during the early years of the college. In addition to teaching basic skills and composition, Anderson was the only part-time instructor to have regularly been entrusted with the teaching of courses in the newly developing Creative Writing Program. In 1978, she would begin advising the first editorial board for FirstDraft, the brand new literary journal written, edited, and produced by Grossmont College students. The journal was a tremendous success, enthusiastically support from the Department and other Creative Writing colleagues (Ruth Anderson, Judith Barkley, Glenda Richter, and Stephanie Mood). Initially, Anderson met with students off campus, in her own home, to read and select student manuscripts for the journal. Since that time, the editorial process has inspired a four-course sequence of for-credit workshops, Acorn Review: Editing and Publishing, which is now one of the centerpieces of the Creative Writing Program curriculum. The success of Anderson's innovative work on FirstDraft also helped to pave the way for other important Creative Writing projects such as Cowles Mountain Journal and the annual Literary Arts Festival.

Julie Cardenas assumed the responsibilities of faculty advisor for FirstDraft when Anderson retired in 1995. Anderson passed away in 1999. Daughter Vanessa Kibbe offers the following words to remember her mother:

She was born in Montana, Verena Cronburg, but when she was quite young her parents moved to San Diego where her father had an upholstery business. She was in the first graduating class at Hoover High School and then went on to SD State and was there at the same time as Gregory Peck. She went on to UC Berkeley to take her Masters but didn't finish, I believe, because she got a job teaching elementary school in Chula Vista, F Street School. Possibly 4th grade? Not many people had jobs in those years during the Depression so it was important to take it when it was offered. After moving back to the San Diego area she met my father Lloyd Anderson, and married him after the war. It was many years later that she finished her Masters at SDSU, but she constantly enrolled in classes, taking subjects that interested her.

When we were small, she was a stay-at-home mom but when she could steal the time away, she wrote. We bought our first TV with money she received after selling to "True Romances." She always said she got her inspiration from the families around us where we lived in El Cajon. She also belonged for many years to a writing group of women who were all successful in getting stories and articles published. They would meet at the members houses and read aloud what they had written that week for criticism and suggestions. She began teaching adult school Creative Writing when we were a bit older and she had more free time. Her time at Grossmont, supervising students working on FirstDraft was some of her most rewarding time and she loved the process of putting it together and especially of reading all the submitted pieces.

She retired at the age of 80 but died two years later. I believe that the macular degeneration that she suffered from was instrumental in her losing hope and giving up.

Verena Anderson, c. 1995
Source: official English Department portrait
Verena Anderson's 1938 graduation portrait
Source: 1938 "Del Sudoeste Yearbook" San Diego State College
Verena Anderson, Gamma Psi member
Source: 1938 "Del Sudoeste Yearbook" San Diego State College
feature article about Verena Anderson, 1972
Source: Sakarias, Alan. "The Anderson Traits." The G 26 April 1974.
Anderson in the classroom, 1974
Source: Sakarias, Alan. "The Anderson Traits." The G 26 April 1974.
Feature article about Verena Anderson, 1982
Source: "Student Writers' Chance For Literary Publication." The G 24 March 1982: 3.
Verena Anderson, 1982
Photo by Paul Caruthers • Source: "Student Writers' Chance For Literary Publication." The G 24 March 1982: 3.
cover of FirstDraft, Fall 1979

Last Updated: 08/23/2016

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Verena Anderson

1968 -1997 Part-Time (b. April 23, 1916, d. July 1, 1998) A.B., San Diego State College (1938); M.A. San Diego State College (1963)

Julie Cardenas assumed the responsibilities of faculty advisor for FirstDraft when Anderson retired in 1995. Anderson passed away in 1999. Daughter Vanessa Kibbe offers the following words to remember her mother:

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