When I found out this week that Bay Area journalist Andrea Lewis had passed away two months back, I felt very sad and very bad. Somehow, this news had completely eluded me. I was traveling; then I was ill...one way or another, I just never heard the news until now.Andrea and I worked together years ago and only recently she had gotten back in touch. She was a person of great passions and principles and a fellow native of Detroit. It's terrible that she was taken at such a young age. I'm sorry we never got to have the reunion we had discussed in email.
Looking back in my email in-box, I found her last message to me. It is strange to sense her wonderful, lively voice. I reproduce it here in her honor:
"Hey David Weir! This is a total blast from the past. Remember me from those crazy days at Mother Jones when I was a research editor and you were the coolest guy in the joint? We'll have to catch up on everything that's transpired in lo those many years..."
I'll edit her message only to say I was never the "coolest guy" anywhere, but that was Andrea -- always able to make others feel special in her spirited way. I'll miss her. We all were made better by her presence, and are weakened by her loss.
-30-
2 comments:
I am totally stunned. And so very very sad. Her contribution to the Morning Show was stellar for years. I remember being extremely upset when she left, until it was clarified that she had gone on a leave of absence in order to obtain a graduate degree. I did not hear her again (as I left the Bay Area a year later) until I listened online to her new KPFA Sunday show when she aired guest speaker Peter Richardson last Fall. She dealt with a difficult subject (for KPFA), the murder of Betty Van Patter, in her Andrea Lewis typical fair way, encouraging all sides, and in true journalistic style, favoring none. I didn't realize she had worked at Mother Jones, but I do agree with her assessment -- you most likely were the coolest guy in the joint, David. Thank you for posting this on her behalf. This is a huge loss. Tamara
she sounds like a wonderful person- full of energy and life- I'm sure you will miss her. However, being the dynamic woman she was- I am also sure she imparted wonderful things to those around her and they will carry on her spirit even now that she is gone.
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