When a Facebook friend passes away, our grief is somehow more nuanced when their page lives on. So it was when Gail Sheehy recently passed away. She influenced me as she influenced so many others, with her book "Passages"... and now she has gone off on the ultimate passage herself.
May she travel in peace.
The other day, Facebook informed me it was the the birthday of my old and very close friend Raul Ramirez, who died seven years ago. Before he passed away, he established the Raul Ramirez Diversity Internship at San Francisco State University.
A few days before he died, I promised him I would help choose the diversity interns in my capacity as a senior editor at our mutual employer, KQED.
The very first intern we selected in Raul's memory was Ericka Guevarra . As fate would have it, she has the same birthday as Raul! He would have loved her and also would be, as I am, so proud of her accomplishments as a journalist.
Last month, via Facebook, we acknowledged the six-month anniversary of the death of another dear friend and colleague, Pat Yollin, who also was very close to both Raul and Ericka.
Pat was a copy editor beyond compare and a wonderful writer as well. She and I worked to perfect the stories that appeared on KQED's online news service every day for over six years.
Facebook unites these friends first in life and then in death with us. Whatever else you can say about this social network, it allows us to continue connecting with each other well beyond the physical boundaries of age, sex, race, orientation, location, or affiliation. And yes -- even beyond eternity,
***
Love is eternal; the news is mundane.
* The pandemic has opened up a stark divide between the haves and have-nots of home ownership, according to USA Today. While as many as 40 million people face the prospect of eviction due to the pandemic's economic devastation, others are upgrading their lives. According to U.S. Census Bureau data, 42% of renter households that earn less than $35,000 a year have little or no confidence in their ability to pay September rent. At the same time, home buys and home improvements are booming for others. (LinkedIn)
* Over 100,000 Protest Belarus’s President in Minsk -- Demonstrators in Belarus defied government warnings to rally in the capital, Minsk. It was the latest in weeks of mass protests that followed President Aleksandr G. Lukashenko’s claim of an election victory on Aug. 9. (AP, Reuters)
* Belarus Protest Leader Vanishes Amid Reports of Masked Abductors -- With large-scale demonstrations showing little sign of winding down, President Aleksandr G. Lukashenko’s security forces appear to have shifted from mass repression to more targeted disappearances (NYT)
* Thousands of officers flooded the streets in Hong Kong on Sunday, stifling attempts of demonstrators to protest the postponement of legislative elections and China’s enactment of a sweeping national security law. (Reuters)
* The police in Melbourne, Australia, arrested 17 protesters and fined more than 160 others on Saturday at a rally against strict coronavirus lockdown measures. (Reuters)
* Miracle? The harvest of the much-extolled, but long-lost Judean dates was something of a scientific miracle. The fruit sprouted from seeds 2,000 years old. (NYT)
* More Than Ever, Trump Casts Himself as the Defender of White America -- Presenting himself as a warrior against identity politics, the president has increasingly made appeals to the grievances of white supporters a centerpiece of his re-election campaign. (NYT)
* Long before the president’s views of the military would emerge as a flash point in his 2020 reelection campaign, Trump had an extensive track record of incendiary and disparaging remarks about veterans and military service. (WashPo)
* Biden is favored to win the election -- We simulate the election 40,000 times to see who wins most often. The sample of 100 outcomes below gives you a good idea of the range of scenarios our model thinks is possible. Biden 71% Trump 28% (538)
* Trump Emerges as Inspiration for Germany’s Far Right -- Among German conspiracy theorists, ultranationalists and neo-Nazis, the American president is surfacing as a rallying cry, or even as a potential “liberator.” (NYT)
***
Back in the East Bay after spending the weekend in San Jose. I like moving around again and want to take some more trips soon.
To see if I still feel
I focus on the pain
The only thing that's real
The old familiar sting
Try to kill it all away
But I remember everything
My sweetest friend?
Everyone I know
Goes away in the end
My empire of dirt
I will let you down
I will make you hurt
Upon my liar's chair
Full of broken thoughts
I cannot repair
The feelings disappear
You are someone else
I am still right here
-30-
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