Fantastic!! So much of this resonates. And I'm reminded to really lean into those relationships with my elders and mentors -- queer women in their 60s and 70s (to my 40s) who are modelling lives filled with joy and connection, as well as offering cautions about the kinds of losses and health/body calamities that come to us all. Susie Bright, what an icon, in this piece you remind me of some of my most beloved friends, and I can hardly think of a higher compliment.
What resonated most was your comments about losing the few older mentors left. Not just the hands-on mentors, the teachers and early editors, but the ones who were (and are) mentors of influence, the ones who I would read as a teenager or college student and later get to know more or less, people whose style and opinions helped me develop my own as a writer/critic. They are aging, dying, or with serious ailments, and the sadness feels very personal. On a "brighter" note, happy birthday!
Fantastic!! So much of this resonates. And I'm reminded to really lean into those relationships with my elders and mentors -- queer women in their 60s and 70s (to my 40s) who are modelling lives filled with joy and connection, as well as offering cautions about the kinds of losses and health/body calamities that come to us all. Susie Bright, what an icon, in this piece you remind me of some of my most beloved friends, and I can hardly think of a higher compliment.
What resonated most was your comments about losing the few older mentors left. Not just the hands-on mentors, the teachers and early editors, but the ones who were (and are) mentors of influence, the ones who I would read as a teenager or college student and later get to know more or less, people whose style and opinions helped me develop my own as a writer/critic. They are aging, dying, or with serious ailments, and the sadness feels very personal. On a "brighter" note, happy birthday!