Sally died peacefully July 28 at St. Vincent's Hospital with her husband, David Burger, at her side. Their daughters, Emma and Cameron, were at home nearby with Sally's mother, Gretchen, and her aunt, Sarah Ballard.
Born January 26, 1963, near Sydney, Australia, Sally was the daughter of Gretchen, a painter currently of Santa Fe, NM, and the late David Guard, a founding member of The Kingston Trio. Along with her sister, Catherine, and brother, Tom, Sally grew up in Whale Beach, Australia, and in Palo Alto and Portola Valley, CA. She went to Woodside High School and spent spent summers at the Bar 717 Ranch in Trinity County, CA.
In 1980, Sally headed to Middlebury College, where she would play varsity soccer, major in English, study French and Italian, and play saxophone in the Ripton Blues Band. After graduating in 1984, she became a reporter at Sports Illustrated in Manhattan, covering golf and the Winter Olympics, as well as soccer, the sport she loved most. She met David, now an economist and senior analyst at Moody's, in a guitar class at The New School in 1993, and they were married 2 years later.
Sally was a senior editor when she left Sports Illustrated in 1995, shortly before Emma was born, then an editor at Bishop Books until Cameron arrived in 1998. After that, she devoted her time to her girls and to David, with whom she found enormous joy and fulfillment. She will be remembered for her wit, her artful turn of phrase, her letters, her love of music, language and arts, her honesty, generosity, and for her commitment to family and friends. She was a unique and loving soul, and will be deeply missed.