Taplin, who was involved with the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council from its inception in 2002, was killed Tuesday in a freeway car accident. Blogdowntown says that Taplin and her sister ran Atherton Press, a small publishing company founded by their mother, Dr. Corinne Lathrop Gilb.

Noted: Dick Baker, longtime president of the Surf Industry Manufacturers Association, died at 62 after battling pancreatic cancer.