Alex Sandie
Founder of the Society and past President
Professional member of Actors Alliance of San Diego. Commercial banker; founding president of several local Scottish organizations, including San Diego-Edinburgh Sister City Society. Actor in over 40 local productions in local theaters, including Lawrence Welk Resort Theatre. His contributions to the arts and culture in San Diego have been recognized with awards from the City of San Diego; the Spirit of Bravissimo Award and from San Diego County Office of Education; the Pillar of Leith (Edinburgh) Medal for contributions to Scottish culture in California.
Jonathan McMurtry
Founder of the Society and Honorary Member
Jonathan was a graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. He had a half-century affiliation at San Diego’s Old Globe Theatre where he was an Associate Artist, with over 200 productions to his credit. He coached Shakespeare for the Old Globe’s MFA program and performed in all of Shakespeare’s 37 plays. Jonathan was honored in October 2018 by the SDSS with a specially dedicated Sonnets program at the Old Globe Theater.
Jack Winans
Former Board Member and long-time member of the Society
Jack taught Radio and Television at Central Washington State University in 1961, and then 28 years of Drama at Kearney High in San Diego. Jack was the only actor to perform in both of the Old Globe’s productions of Mister Roberts – first, as “Schlemmer “ in 1953 and again as “Chief Johnson” in 1995 at the age of 63. In between, he performed in nine other Globe productions. His favorite role was as “Curly” in Of Mice and Men. Over the years, Jack directed many readings at the Upstart Crow bookstore for the SDSS.
Walter Munk
Honorary Member and long-time supporter of the Society
Walter was a world-famous oceanographer and a professor of geophysics at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego in La Jolla. He, along with his wife Mary, was a generous supporter of the Society and they opened their home each Spring for our annual Bard Birthday fundraiser.
Rupert Essinger
Long-time member of the Society and first Readings Coordinator
Born in Leicestershire, England, Rupert attended Oxford University and went on to study cartography and GIS at Glasgow University and then SUNY Buffalo. He joined Esri (the company behind StoryMaps) in 1985. He directed many readings at the Upstart Crow bookstore and was always a welcome face to returning and new attendees.
Jill Steiner
Former Board Member and long-time member of the Society
Jill received a Ph.D. in Shakespeare and Renaissance drama from U.C. Berkeley, where she taught for many years before moving to San Diego to teach at various schools. While at UCSD, she had the opportunity to teach special courses on Shakespeare and Film as well as training students to analyze plays from the standard Shakespeare canon as part of their Humanities curriculum.