Celebrating the life of Laura Hershey

I am crest fallen at news of Laura’s passing. I first met Laura about ten years ago when she was at HCPF and I was working at Connections in Greeley.  I admired her passion, poise, grit, and PRIDE! She was so accessible and giving of her vast knowledge and so open. When I moved to NM I kept up with Laura via facebook.  It has been so wonderful to watch Laura blossom as a Mom. My homesickness was always made better by seeing the pictures of Colorado’s magnificent beauty and my heart was made bigger by the love that emminated from the posts about Robin and Shannon and their family. Laura lived more in her lifetime then most could do in ten! I will miss her always and keep practicing my pride! I love you Laura. My thoughts and prayers are with you Robin and Shannon and to all my brothers and sisters in the disability community and elsewhere who are grieving the loss of this truly awesome warrior women.

On Thanksgiving, one of the things I was thankful for was writers who make me think.  All too quickly we’re mourning the passing of one of the people I had in mind when I wrote that.  Laura Hershey was, among so many other things, a poet, writer, activist, word nerd, Scrabble ass-kicker, disability-rights mentor, partner, mother, and friend.  She passed* the day after Thanksgiving.

Others will write about Laura’s long history in the disability rights and LGBT communities, of working with her as a writer, or protesting with her back in the day.  My perspective is as a relative newcomer to the disability rights world, a straight, non-disabled law nerd wielding the dry prose of the legal brief in lieu of poetry or protest.  I’ll miss Laura immensely as a friend, but I wanted to write about another role she played and will continue to play for me.

Laura is an important part of my Mental Greek Chorus.  Perhaps you have one of these?  My MGC consists of the people with whom I have the mental arguments that help hone my own views on things.  (BTW, if having an MGC is a sign of mental illness, all I can say is I highly recommend it.)  Membership in my MGC consists of really really smart people who I love and who call bullshit on my views.  As you might guess, my husband and my brother are charter members.  But so is Laura.  Even though we could both be found on the left side of the political spectrum, she often challenged the assumptions in many of my views.

We disagreed on the question of abortion.  But what, I asked, do you think of people deciding to have an abortion when they learn their child will be disabled?  Her response:  it’s wrong, but we can’t force people to make the same intimate decisions we would make.

She challenged my civil libertarian views of assisted suicide.  Sure, in theory, everyone should have the same right to take his or her own life, but theory isn’t all that helpful in a world with limited support systems for people with disabilities, and a popular culture that often sends messages of pity and dependency.

And then there was the question of modesty.  As you can see from her eloquent final blog post, Laura spoke frankly about sex.  I think this is terrific — in theory.  My own conversational approach is more, um, prudish.  I recall Laura’s amusement as she described — over dinner at Little Shanghai — an art exhibit the theme of which was “what I was wearing when I had my first orgasm.”  I suspect her ongoing amusement at her and Robin’s gift of a condom and a mint when my gift suggestion for Tim had been “exotic condiments” was motivated more by how long it took me to figure out the rebus than the actual blush value of it.

On these and so many other topics, I will always hear Laura’s voice adding nuance, intelligent commentary, and good humor to my dry legal analysis.  She will live on for me in my heart and in my Mental Greek Chorus, continuing to gently, lovingly, and eloquently call bullshit.

*  After my father passed in 1997, I noticed that his southern and African-American friends all said “passed” whereas non-southerners and non-African-Americans tended to say “passed away.”  I came to prefer “passed,” because so often it feels like he is not really that far “away.”  I’m thinking Laura would smile at taking the occasion of describing her death to nerd-out on word choice.

[Cross-posted, as all the cool kids say, at www.thoughtsnax.com, where Ginny has posted a very long, loving comment.]

Here’s a tribute to Laura in New Mobility magazine.

I  remember first meeting Laura and Robin at the International Conference on Women with Disabilities.  From the very first moment I felt like I had known them both forever.

I’m still in such shock over Laura’s sudden passing.  I don’t have words that could adequately explain how I feel.

If  I said she was one amazing woman, it would be redundant; we all know that already–don’t we?

She was right. You get proud by practicing.  It takes lots of practice.  But you know what? You stay proud by practicing. It’s hard, but I’m practicing.  Every day.  I thank Laura for lighting my way.

Love to Laura, Robin and Shannon.

Trish

We first met at about noon on May 22, 1999 – Day two of the May Media Meeting in Louisville. We were in small groups and you were so friendly that I sat by you. What I remember most are your eyes. So intelligent and full of humor and mischief. Like you were just waiting to see how ‘got it’. I bought your poems when I got home and read them and wrote you. You wrote back. Just a couple months ago I reminded you of how much I love “Petunias” and “The Prostitutes of Nairobi” and you thanked me for remembering ‘that old stuff.’ You and Robin made a big effort to come and hear Eleanor and I at the PEAK conference. It was so much fun visiting and lately all the celebrations of Shannon, anniversaries and travel.
Thank you Laura for being my friend. You made such a difference in my life and everytime I think of you I will remember the first time I saw you and that wonderful twinkle in your eyes. I miss you.

Laura’s famous poem was set to music, and this version is sung by the Calliope Women’s Chorus who commissioned the work.

Listen here:

“You Get Proud by Practicing” words by Laura Hershey, music by Diane Benjamin

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It is important to have a place for memories of Laura and to post our favorite pictures. All of us knew Laura in many different ways. This is a place to write, read, and reminisce about how Laura impacted our lives.  Pictures can only be uploaded through me at radrobins@cripcommentary.com. To post, register and log in and then, after getting your password, go to the left side and click “Posts”. Enjoy…