et lux perpetua

[rushthatspeaks]

I never met John M. (Mike) Ford. I always hoped I would.

I remember perfectly the first time I ran across his poem 'Winter Solstice, Camelot Station' in one anthology or another. After I finished weeping with awe, I spent three hours trying to call up my college roommate Sei, the other most devoted fan of Arthuriana I know, and when I failed to get through sat down and typed every word of it out to her over email, in the certain and totally correct knowledge that she would go and buy a copy of her own instantly. I still think it's the best modern piece about the Matter of Britain that I've read.

I stumbled over the short story 'Erase/Record/Play' in a different anthology. I went immediately to find my wife so I could read it aloud to her and we could sit in stunned and heartbroken silence.

It took me several years to figure out it was the same guy, but I wasn't surprised that it was when I finally got it through my head. Because those are the only two pieces to which I've ever had the reaction that they had to be shared *immediately*, that I could not rest until I showed them to people I loved who would love them too. That was his writing: too good to keep to oneself.

Requiescat in pace. To those who knew him, loved him, my heartfelt sorrow for your loss.

Comments

[yuki-onna.livejournal.com]

Look at us both with our parallel Latin.

Do you know where I can find the text of that poem?

[aitchellsee.livejournal.com]

Somewhere in all the tributes to Mr. Ford that I was tesseracting to yesterday from flists to flists, I ran across someone who posted a link to a copy of Winter Solstice, Camelot Station that someone else had apparently posted to CELTIC-L, years ago (you have to skip down past the first entry on the archive page to which this takes you):

https://listserv.heanet.ie/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind9711&L=CELTIC-L&P=R18841&I=-3

Harriet / HLC
(who met you at FarthingParty)

[yuki-onna.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much!

[aitchellsee.livejournal.com]

Oops! lost track of where I was replying - I meant I met rushthatspeaks at FarthingParty, though I've seen your pixels on flists often enough, too.

[kchew.livejournal.com]

Oh, this is the worst sort of news. I just found out in your blog. I am devestated.

I had exactly the same reaction to "Winter Solstice, Camelot Station." He wrote it as a Christmas card. Can you believe it?

Oh no.

[papersky.livejournal.com]

I also typed it in for a friend. And then Pamela got me Time Steps -- have you got it? I might have a spare. But after that, I was in Elise's and she showed me all the old Christmas card poetry and I sat and read and read all afternoon.

And then I met him, and I could hardly speak.

[rushthatspeaks.livejournal.com]

I have got a copy of Time Steps, and thank you. It is one of the most essential books of poetry I've read.

[(Anonymous)]

Ah, crap-----I will be more eloquent later when I do not have to run for the train, but that's most of the sentiment right there.