Letter
from the Editor, October
2003
Day of the Dead month...
Wow! It has been a busy month, and it shows in terms of the amount of amazing content we have this month!! I'm overwhelmed and grateful to everyone who contributed. I have a few random things that didn't quite make it into their own spots, so I'll do those first:
1) Nancy Grayson sent me this awesome link to an NPR story about a San Fran band -- a MORTUARY band that plays in the streets as the casket of the dead is carried through the streets of Chinatown!!!! Wow. Such an interesting history, tradition, ritual. You have to check it out:
www.npr.org/programs/lnfsound/stories/031003.greenstreet.html
2) We ran a full article in our print zine, Different Kind of Parenting, about Day of the Dead and finding the true meaning of Halloween. So I didn't really have a space here online to run the same thing again. But I wanted to quickly tell you that this whole month, in Mexican tradition, is about remembering our dead -- usually culminating with a party, yes, I said *party*, at the cemetery complete with decorations, music, food, and more. I can't do it justice in this small space, so check out this link and read more:
www.dayofthedead.com
www.azcentral.com/ent/dead
3) We finally have the KotaPress online eNewsletter up and running again. We're sending out somewhere between one and four updates per month -- and updates are about Loss support, but also about KotaPress Poetry Journal, Art Journal, Books, Classes and the Mrs. Duck Project. We'd love to have you stay in touch with all that we are doing via the eNewsletter!! If you want to subscribe to that eNewsletter today, just click here...
Okay, *THEN* in this month's issue itself, you are just going to find so much in the way of resource, insight, support! I just can't believe how much we have here. There are two major articles about Self-Cutting During Grief -- this was a new manifestation of grief that I had never heard of before, so I think you'll find a comprehensive look at what self-cutting means and how you might help yourself or someone you love. We have some poems and articles from other bereaved parents. We have ideas for finding memorial gift items. There are links for multiple birth loss, for finding artists creating for bereaved parents, for suicide prevention help. We have an article about the realities of living with HIV and another article about a possible class action law suit about insurance death benefits for parents of stillborn children! There is just sooooooooo much. Check it all out. Be in touch. Know that you are not alone!!!
Many thanks and many miracles to you,
Kara
L.C. Jones, Dakota's Mommy
Editor-In-Chief, KotaPress
This page is dedicated to Dakota
Born and died March 11, 1999
Author Biography
Kara
lives on Vashon Island which
is a much more awesome place
than she ever imagined it
would be - though she'd
like to find a stable living
situation where she wouldn't
have to move for like two
or three years at least!!
She is a poet, bookmaker,
wife, teacher, mother to
a stillborn son, facilitator,
tech consult, founder, struggling
p.t.barnum, turtle faithful,
editor, artist, and a million
other things that will prevent
you from putting her in
any one particular label
box! Kara teaches through
local art centers, artists
in the schools programs,
KotaPress and independently.
To find out more about her,
see:
http://www.KotaPress.com/kara/karajones.htm
