John Traina

Mr. Traina, born in San Francisco on Sept. 26, 1931, was the son of a homemaker who loved opera and a father who ran a candy business sold to See's Candies just before the 1906 earthquake. He attended local schools and graduated from Stanford University before building a career. He was a longtime shipping line executive, first running the passenger division of American President Lines, then working for Prudential Cruises and Grace Cruises. He began the Pearl Cruises, the first Western cruise line to sail to China. The line was used for an episode of the popular 1970s TV series "The Love Boat" with stars Ursula Andress, John Forsythe and Linda Evans, according to Trevor Traina. He was married for 16 years to Dede Buchanan, with whom he had two sons. After they divorced, she married real estate magnate Al Wilsey. Mr. Traina then wed best-selling author Danielle Steel. Together, they raised eight children before they, too, divorced after 15 years. Mr. Traina is survived by three sons, Trevor Traina, Todd Traina and Maxx Traina of San Francisco; four daughters, Samantha Traina of Los Angeles, Victoria Traina and Vanessa Traina of New York, and Zara Traina of San Francisco; a stepdaughter, Beatrix Seidenberg of San Francisco; a sister, Marisa Hahn of Wolfsberg, Germany; and two former wives, Diane "Dede" Wilsey and Danielle Steel of San Francisco. He was the adoptive father of the late Nick Traina.