Iola Whitlock Brubeck, a third generation native of California, was born in 1923 in the small Sacramento Valley town of Corning. She attended first grade in a one-room schoolhouse in the Coast Range foothills of Glenn County, CA in Newville, a settlement that no longer appears on maps. She later attended Willows Grammar School and in her sophomore year of high school moved with her family to Redding, where her father was employed in the U.S. Forest Service. In high school, Iola won statewide competitions in speech and essay writing with the rewards of trips to Hawaii, Washington D.C., and the San Francisco World Fair. She was valedictorian of her graduating class in 1940 and the recipient of several scholarships.

At the College of the Pacific she was active on winning debate teams, the school paper, and DeMarcus Brown’s Pacific Little Theater. A speech and radio major, she acted as assistant to John C. Crabbe who established at Pacific the only academic radio major offered west of the Mississippi. Iola married Dave Brubeck in September of 1942 and continued her studies at College of the Pacific until 1943 when she joined Dave, who was stationed at Camp Haan near Riverside, CA. She worked in the local radio station, KPRO, until Dave was deployed overseas. She then returned to Pacific to continue her studies and receive her B.A. degree.

After winning a radio drama competition sponsored by NBC, Iola moved to Los Angeles and worked as a freelance actress. Upon Dave’s discharge from the Army in 1946, the couple moved to Oakland, where both attended Mills College. Iola studied philosophy and creative writing. A story she wrote was published in a small literary review and was selected by a national publication as one of the best short stories of the year. After the first of six children were born to her and Dave, she devoted her time to helping Dave in his career, acting as his manager, publicist, travel planner, and keeper of the books.

In 1960, Iola collaborated with Dave in writing The Real Ambassadors, a musical theatre piece starring Louis ‘Satchmo’ Armstrong and Carmen McRae. The recording and the subsequent concert presentation at the Monterey Jazz Festival won high critical praise for her lyrics. She has collaborated with her husband on many of his larger works, writing the libretto, assisting in the selection and editing of texts, and in some instances, providing original lyrics. She has been praised by theologians for the concepts included in her original work and for her translation from Latin of the Thomas Aquinas text of Pange Lingua Variations, premiered in Sacramento, CA at the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament.

Iola has also written lyrics for many of Dave’s songs. In recognition of their collaborative work, Dave and Iola were honored together by Northwood University, receiving Northwood’s Achievement in the Arts Award in 1996. Citing her pioneering work in bringing jazz to college campuses, and her years of artistic collaboration with her husband, the University of the Pacific awarded an honorary doctorate to her in 2000. Iola has been actively involved in furthering the goals of the Brubeck Institute since its establishment in 2001.

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