Dear storytelling friends,

Many of you already know that our dear Jackie Baldwin transitioned last month. While we knew her as a storyteller and owner of the Story-Lovers website that gave us all so many gifts of story, there was so much more to this warm, remarkable, generous woman.

Jackie’s daughter Val posted this about her and she gave me permission to share it with all of you. What a life she lived!

“On June 12th our family lost its center, Jackie Beverly Baldwin. We had her for almost 86 years. Somehow, this only child who was brought up in multiple foster homes, raised five kids on her own, working harder than what seemed possible. Mom was brilliant, funny, loving, complicated, and movie star beautiful. Fueled by optimism, huge creative dreams and liters of Diet 7 Up, she helped each of us discover what direction we wanted our lives to go in and gave us the confidence to know we could achieve our dreams. Court reporting, typing, and executive secretary work put food on the table for years. Work was so important to her. Somehow she managed to get a master’s degree in the midst of it all, and through all of the struggles, managed to stay positive and strong. Once we flew the coop, she went on to write and produce children’s television, teach writing and create multiple small businesses. She traveled the world on her own, New Zealand, Brazil, Ecuador, and even took a trip down the Amazon in her 50’s (capsizing while following a wild boar). Her loss is huge to all of us. Full disclosure: She HATED Facebook! She was way too private to use it. I hesitated posting anything here, but ultimately realized that the woman we called Mom Dot Com had so many people who loved her. She was an incredible storyteller and touched many lives in the storytelling community, giving them a place to gather and find stories and fables to share with others. We wanted them to know that she loved providing that place for you and it gave her so much joy. We love you, Mom. The world is so much smaller without you in it. And, yes, even though you raised us to be good little atheists, we kind of hope you’re somewhere really, really wonderful.”

I have the honor of writing an article for the Remembered Voices column in the Nation al Storytelling Magazine about Jackie. If you have a story/memory you would like to share please either post it here or email me at storybug@aol.com .

Thank you so much. Jackie’s memory is surely a blessing to many.

Karen Chace
www.storybug.net