Joel Lane, Three Years On: Black Is The Mourning, White Is The Wand

Today is the third anniversary of Joel Lane's death at the ridiculously early age of fifty. He's still loved and greatly missed - now, perhaps, more than ever. I wish we had his intelligence and insight right now.

A couple of years ago, around the first anniversary of his death, I wrote a flash fiction piece called 'Black Is The Mourning, White Is The Wand.' I haven't been able to find a home for it, so I decided to use it as part of a tribute video. So, here it is.

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Remembering Joel Lane

Photo by Emily McMahon

Today would have been my late friend Joel Lane's 52nd birthday, and I was reminded all over again (chiefly by Facebook) how much I miss him. A few months ago I posted a memory of Joel on Facebook - a brief anecdote that did much to sum up his wit and sly sense of humour - and it occurred to me that it would be nice to give it a more permanent home.

On the heels of that, it occurred that many others would have stories to tell about him. Funny ones, sad ones, inspiring ones - mostly funny ones, though. Although his stories were bleak and his life often unhappy, Joel could often be funny beyond words.

Anyway: if you have such an anecdote about Joel, one you'd like to share, drop me a line here. I'll post them on the blog on an as and when basis, so there's a permanent resource in his memory.