Olivia Mellan Shapiro — psychotherapist, author, and pioneer of money therapy (which she dubbed  “Money Harmony”) — passed peacefully on Saturday, Aug. 17, 2024 in Santa Barbara.

Her son Anil Mundra was at her side. Her daughter-in-law Heather Lorentz and their two sons had been there shortly beforehand.

She is also survived by her husband Michael Shapiro, in Silver Spring, Maryland; her first husband Anand Mundra in Boulder, Colorado; the family of her brother Stuart Mellan of Tucson, Arizona; and many adoring nieces, nephews, cousins, and chosen family, including Nancy Dunn, of Washington, DC, who had recently helped her move to California.

Known as “Livvie” and sometimes by her middle name “Julie,” she was born in Brooklyn, New York, and raised in Wantagh, Long Island, by Sara and Judge Eli Mellan.

After college at Mount Holyoke, including a junior year abroad in Paris, and graduate school in French literature at Georgetown, she forged her own career as a self-described “renegade” therapist.

Her work with couples showed her the main taboo and source of conflict was money; hence her mission of “Money Harmony” was born. 

After authoring five books and giving countless speeches, workshops, and media appearances, she retired at age 70.

She was then stricken by a rare and devastating neurodegenerative disease called progressive supranuclear palsy, which ultimately took away her movement and speech.

Burial is at 1:15 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 20 at Santa Barbara Cemetery, and live-streamed at https://client.tribucast.com/tcid/f24082205930892.

In lieu of flowers, donations in her name can be made at CurePSP.org.