Merle Rubin, a book critic who was a regular contributor to the Los Angeles Times as well as the Wall Street Journal, Washington Times and Christian Science Monitor, died of cancer at Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center in Hollywood on November 30. She was 57. The LA Times obituary notes that Rubin had been a full-time freelance reviewer - a tough gig that's notorious for low pay. "It is a way of making a literary life," Times Book Editor David Ulin said of Rubin's career. "The intellectual benefits are there." Nick Owchar, Times deputy book editor added that Rubin "thought of the reader" and "she wanted to be sure they had an experience of the book by reading her review, whether they read the book or not."

She is survived by her husband, Martin and her mother and sister. A memorial celebration is planned after the New Year.