The Passing of Amy Young

A beautiful, brave young woman died yesterday of a rare cancer. Her name was Amy Young and she was an intern at Pacific University. I saw her at the MFA residencies the last 5 June’s and January’s and have been following her path via her blog since she was diagnosed with mesothelioma.

Last January, she streaked at midnight on the beach and dipped her toes in the icy Pacific. In June, I wrote this post about sitting next to her at a faculty reading on campus. Recently, she was awarded her diploma for her undergraduate degree in English, poetry thesis in hand.

Just look at Amy’s smile. She will be missed.