Friday, May 3, 3 p.m., West Sound Yacht Club
— from Cindy Wolf —
A gathering honoring the “adventures and misadventures” of Kristin Kolb
will be held at the West Sound Yacht Club Picnic area Friday May 3. The space will be available from 3 p.m. on for building an altar of remembrance. Antoinette Botsford will lead a prayer circle at 5 p.m. A potluck picnic will follow. Please bring your own place setting.
Kris in her own words taken from papergrrl at WordPress.com:
I’m a freelance writer and editor based in the Western United States. But
I’m from the Ozarks. I’ve lived, studied and worked in random places:
Missouri, Massachusetts, Oberlin, Ithaca, Chicago, Portland, Seattle,
Vancouver, the Black Hills, and now the San Juan Islands.
From 2013-2015, I wrote a monthly column, “Daydream Nation,” for the
CounterPunch print magazine. I am a former news editor of In These Times
magazine and the former editor of Tidepool News Service, which became
Sightline Daily (both now defunct). I’ve also written and edited for
various environmental non-profits and a labor union.
“Always go too far, because that’s where you’ll find the truth.” Camus
Kristin was laid to rest near her family in Missouri.
**If you are reading theOrcasonian for free, thank your fellow islanders. If you would like to support theOrcasonian CLICK HERE to set your modestly-priced, voluntary subscription. Otherwise, no worries; we’re happy to share with you.**
So sad. A lovely person.
I saw her around the dock a couple times and always thought to myself what a lovely young woman, and now after reading this I can see she was that and so much more. A great loss. My sincerest condolences. ☮️
Kristin is my daughter. Third of my three children. We brought her back to Missouri and buried her in our Cemetery directly behind our tombstone on Friday, April 12. She was the light of my life; I dedicated my mature life to supporting her in her endeavors. She attended St. Mary’s Grade School in Mt. Vernon, Illinois, and Casey Jr. High; Jefferson City High School, Jefferson City, Missouri skipping her senior year she was accepted on a scholorship to Simon’s Rock of Bard, Great Barrington, Massachusetts, finishing her final three years at Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio. She worked for Missouri State Historical Society, Columbia, Missouri ~ IN THESE TIMES, Chicago; SIEU Portland, Oregon, and Tide Pool in Seattle. She was pulished in Counter Punch. She had just been accepted on full scholarship to Antioch College, L.A. She was no. 1 in admissions for the Fall Term.
Kristin suffered immensely after she moved from Chicago to the Pacific Northwest, first Seattle, and then to Vancouver. In 2014 she was diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer. She suffered intensive
chemotherapy, lost her hair, had both breasts removed and finished her treatment after intensive daily radioactive treatments in April 2015 when she left Vancouver and moved to Seattle because her visa had expired and her estranged husband did not support her staying in Canada.
A short duration in Seattle and South Dakota she moved back to the Pacific Northwest to be close to her daughter who remained in Vancouver with her father. She loved the islands. I told her she lived in Paradise.
A very contentuous divorce pursued with no resolution. Sadly, she was still married when she died.
So she was finally pulling her feet out of the mud and moving on to greater things; perhaps had already arrived.
Judith Fester
judithfester@outlook.com
Happy International day of the worker Kristin! I’ll forever remember her lefty fervor for the working class. Never in the world expected her to die. Such a tragedy. She seemed a survivor, constantly in survivor mode. Such a shock. I’ll never forget the laughter, the passion, the prose, the late night phone calls. She was my best friend for years until our journies and egos took us on different paths. She will not be forgotten. My condolences always to S.