Tuesday, January 23, 2018

A mixed bag of news

Ursula K. LeGuin 1929–2018
I was just sitting here minding my own business and waiting for enough time to pass for me to head out the door for a meeting. I am NOT a fan of evening meetings or driving at night, but this is a monthly meeting about the volunteer work I do for the Whatcom Alliance for Health Advancement (WAHA). We are in the process of updating the Advance Directive form that I and others help people to fill out so that our clients can have Health Care Power of Attorney, in case something happens and they cannot speak for themselves. It's been very rewarding work, but I must occasionally attend these.

And in checking the news before I left, I just learned that Ursula K. LeGuin, one of my favorite writers of all time, has just died. She was 88 and died at her home in Portland, Oregon, surrounded by family. The New York Times obituary is here. If you are not familiar with her work and why so many of us are saddened by her passing, it will help to explain it.

But the other news I have is really good: my blogging friend Ronni Bennett has just finished seven months of treatment after her Whipple surgery for pancreatic cancer and is at present deemed to be cancer free. She wrote a wonderful post about it. The comments are also very uplifting, if you want to take the time to read them.

In a few minutes, I'll head out the door and will be glad I went to the meeting, I'm sure.
:-)

11 comments:

  1. FANTASTIC news about Ronni!!! Sorry about your beloved author.

    ReplyDelete
  2. What great news about your friend!

    LeGuin’s words will entertain people for generations!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Enjoyed Ronni's post. So positive, and such positive results!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I've started not liking those evening meetings. I will have to look at a Leguin story as I've never read any of them.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Great news about your friend Ronnie!
    Sorry about the author's death. I don't think I've read anything by her but the article has me interested. Quite a life she had, though!
    I hope your meeting went well. :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Not familiar with the author but perhaps it is time for me to check out her work. Excellent news of your friend. I know what you mean about going out on a dark night. Usually glad i made the effort as i am sure you did.

    ReplyDelete
  7. So sorry about your favorite writer. Knowing we will never get to read any more from them is such a loss.
    I check Ronnie every day and her journey has been an amazing one.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I am glad your friend is cancer free, because two friends of mine died from pancreatic cancer.

    ReplyDelete
  9. LeGuin was a visionary! I was sad to her about her passing. But I'm delighted your friend is on the mend!

    ReplyDelete
  10. I am not familiar with the author LeGuin, but I know it's hard to lose someone whose work you love.
    Pancreatic cancer is a tough one to beat. I', glad there is a surgical procedure for it now, and I'm so happy for your blog friend that it is working.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Thank goodness your friend is doing well after the Whipple surgery because pancreatic cancer is just awful. I haven't read any of Ms. LeGuin's work, but her writing sounds intriguing.

    ReplyDelete

I really appreciate your comments! If you see a word verification box here, just ignore it. I don't use the darn thing and Blogger is trying to get us to use it, I guess. Ignore it and your comment will still appear.