We lost a great one on Saturday, a one-of-a-kind. I never knew her, but I can say she raised at least one fine (albeit politically misguided) son, my friend Bill Black. He was as devoted as a son can be, and his affection for his mom was palpable to anyone who knows him. This video of her on Bill's blog -- on the occasion of her 85th birthday last year -- pretty much sums up the wily, mischievous, full-of-life spirit that was Helen Black.
"On the day when the weight deadens on your shoulders and you stumble, may the clay dance to balance you. And when your eyes freeze behind the gray window and the ghost of loss gets in to you, may a flock of colors, indigo, red, green, and azure blue come to waken in you a meadow of delight. "
- from "Bennacht" by John O'Donohue
May she rest in peace.