A Sad and Sudden Loss
Yesterday, friends and close acquaintances learned the sad news that Meg Carlon died on Wednesday, of an unexpected cause and with little warning.
Meg was an artist--making art and teaching art to children and adults. Her work is perhaps best remembered for the quirky characters that inhabited it--both human and animal. Back when Animalkind had an annual fundraising event called "Art for Animals," the collection of works raffled at that event regularly included a drawing or painting contributed by Meg.
A biologist by training, Meg was a passionate and knowledgeable champion of South Bay and its unique ecosystem. Meg and her husband, Timothy O'Connor, were principals in the South Bay Task Force, contributing their considerable scholarly and empirical research to support the group's mission to improve the ecological health of the Bay.
All who knew Meg are stunned by her death, and our community is incalculably diminished.
My sincere and heartfelt condolences to Timothy O'Conner and his family. This is terribly sad news.
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry ,Tim. What a heartbreaking loss.
What a terrible loss. My heart goes out to Tim O'Connor.
ReplyDeleteMeg found perfection in life's simplicity: good food and coffee and chocolate; a strong appetite to enjoy them all! She also recognized life's simple gifts: friendship with humans and animals; a strong and healthy day; peace of heart and mind amidst so much uncertainty. Meg bestowed the sweetest gifts: a handmade toy or card; an intelligent and witty book; a pair of "up-cycled" gardening pants she made for me. Meg was my teacher: foraging; fermenting; identifying flora and fauna. She was my supporter: goals; hopes; dreams. She was my commiserator: the state of the world; it's maddening pace; technology. She was my example: optimism; planning and projecting; appreciating and living with nature. Because of Meg, my eyes and ears are more open and my heart more aware as I explore her beloved Columbia County. I wondered at her ability to cross-country ski almost everyday of the past winter, while the rest of us cowered indoors. I laughed at her verve to take a first swim of the season in a pond she encountered while hiking in early May.
ReplyDeleteIn August, Meg wrote this: "All I know is that suffering and pain simply exist in the world, alongside the good things. Of course we all prefer and ask for the good things. I know I do, especially on the harder days... But, to transform the suffering and despair into something elemental that can go back out into the world and do some sort of good. That would be my best goal..."
Such generosity is what we have lost in losing Meg. You are right, Carole, our community is incalculably diminished.
This message came from Patrick Doyle:
ReplyDeleteThe first time I saw Meg she was walking her dog. Must have been over 15 years ago. When I first came to Hudson. Meg's expression and facial shape is so distinct. A clarity about her eyes even through her glasses. Wide and filled with the interest of the world …yet stoic and calm taking in what was there not only in front of her...But obviously intertwining with her artistic and creative self….One can see immediately that this woman is living in the world of creativity. Yet when she speaks it is with measure and wisdom of a thinker...not wispy but grounded.
Her tolerance for humanity was expressed best with her love of animals and her dogs. She respected the life of this planet. She cared for the beings of this world. Yet her art and expression and wonder of nature was so simple and human. She would collect beaver sticks. I have the blessing of one of these found sculptures. She would create small trellises and constructions with these simple sticks. Just a twig gnawed by one of those beings she so deeply connected with. Simple and elegant …Meg... the beauty of this wonder of humanity and womanhood.
The flare of her nostrils always intrigued me. She was a creature of the air. I could see in this feature in her face an ability to smell the color of the sunset and the sunrise. Her face as she walked to the river floppy hat and dog at her side. Many times she would be walking down to the railroad on her southern leg of her walk. I would hail her and she would come across the RR and we would have an exchange. I loved the way she spoke my name. She would have this lilt in her voice. She would kind of giggle. But it was not a nervous giggle. But rather a flicker of humor that was gracing my being. She carried herself as royalty (not by a self centeredness ) but rather a God given right of a human being at peace with herself and her fellow humans.
I know that Meg has lived a full and purposeful life. Although she will be missed this is not a being who has lost any life yet to live. She in her way was a walking living human of complete fulfillment. We will all carry her in our thoughts and hearts. Those gentle eyes of creativity. Her flaring nose of sensitivity.…Her wisdom and ability to touch those who knew her.
I loved Meg...she was a dear friend and very funny girl ...her laugh and all knowing attitude will be sorely missed.
ReplyDeleteThe expressions of love in your emails, phone calls, and here at Gossips takes my breath away. It will take a awhile, but I will thank everyone personally.
ReplyDeleteThe healing effect of your sorrowful and warm words for Meg's distraught family members, self included, has been immeasurable.
This Gossips post is being followed from Maine to Alaska and all points south, and it is deeply appreciated.
Meg spent over 18 years in Hudson, and she lived fully here. Many of you knew her from before my time (e.g., Moseby [the dog] preceded me), and you watched her become the wise woman I met, then fell in love with, only later.
When I pull myself together, I'll host a memorial party in Hudson to celebrate our wonderful Meg. If you knew her at all, you're invited. Meg's one hope (expressed earlier this summer) was that people bring a story about her to share, no matter how small.
Meg was fighting a very complicated form of already-complicated acute myeloid leukemia. Due in part to her tireless discipline, she'd experienced few set-backs and was in full remission. She was only weeks away from receiving a bone marrow transplant at Dana-Farber in Boston.
It was because her prospects were so favorable that we were unprepared, psychologically, for the ever-present threat of a lethal bacterial infection. The end came very rapidly.
Anyone who knew her even a little will guess correctly that she bore herself with great dignity through a very undignified disease. Witnessing first-hand month after month her steadiness, strength, application, cultivation, and enormous generosity, she left me in awe daily. No exaggeration. Earlier I'd see hospital staff just hanging out in her room, and on Wednesday staff of every kind came to pay their last respects.
Having every confidence in where she is now does help with the general incomprehension, but it doesn't answer to the hole in our hearts.
Meg was the first person to stop and talk with me when we moved to our house in Hudson. She had such a wonderful warmth and energy. From sour cherries off of the tree in our yard Meg made me an amazing cherry compote. From that day on sour cherries became a favorite of mine. I would see Meg here and there around Hudson and every encounter was a welcome one. I am saddened that I will never get to know her better - she was unlike anyone I had ever met before. My heart is with all of those who were lucky enough to know her well.
ReplyDeleteThank you, thank you, Hudson friends.
ReplyDeleteMeg was such a private person that in her obituary I aimed for a picture of her everyday world, which as you know was very interior. It was also quite marvelous.
http://www.registerstar.com/obituaries/article_5df4a062-54d4-11e4-a0fd-8ff4c76d1eac.html?mode=jqm
Deepest sympathies Tim. Very sorry to hear of your loss.
ReplyDeleteI knew Meg from her days at the Arts and Ed program in Albany , She was a very special person to work with and to know.I feel quite fortunate to have trade paintings with Meg. I think of her quite often . Thank you for writing such a wonderful obituary for her , it was very comforting and enriching during my grief. My sympathies go out to her husband, Tim, I am very sorry for your loss. Tom
ReplyDelete