IN REMEMBRANCE...

Our local writing community lost one of our own recently.  Margot Theis Raven had a gift of crafting stories that preserved the beauty of the past in a way that both educated and captivated readers.

Margot Theis Raven

1950 - 2014

Margot was an award-winning author, and also a talented painter, who told others that she didn’t write children’s books, but rather she wrote historical fiction in the form of a children’s picture book.  If you’ve ever read one of her books then you would agree.

My personal favorite, Circle Unbroken, paid homage to the prized art form of sweetgrass basketweaving here in the Lowcountry of South Carolina.  Raven’s words are lyrical, her stories are emotional, and her work is inspiring. 

Her beautiful life was cut short by the ugly and cruel reality of breast cancer.  It hurt to hear the news.  I knew about her battle, but I had hoped she would pull through and join the growing list of survivors.  I envisioned her becoming one of the many women I met several years ago, when writing Time is a River, at a Casting for Recovery retreat in the mountains of North Carolina.  Gathered at a riverbank just outside of Asheville, breast cancer survivors in all stages of treatment and recovery learned the therapeutic sport of fly fishing through this free retreat. In that cold, mountain water, they shared their stories, their worries, and their support as they re-connected with nature and healed from their battle scars.  I had hoped the same for my friend Margot.  

Margot’s death painfully reminds me though that the road is long in the fight to end breast cancer.  On her website, Margot has a quote posted by Patty S. Hill which states, “The world moves forward on the footsteps of little children.” 

How true that is.  Margot left this world far too soon, but she left us with treasures.  Every time someone turns a page in one of her books, a little bit of herself lives on--moves forward--through young readers and those young at heart.   

Thank you, Margot, for sharing your gifts with us.