IN MEMORY
Thank you Marcia Bell for sharing this most beautiful eulogy written by Alison's husband and passing along his words:
"Tell her friends that she was an extraordinary person and lived a full life, although much too short. J. Bruce Baumann"
Alison Gordon Baumann
8/13/48 — 9/1/12
Out In The Back Of Beyond/Editor’s Notebook
For almost 25 years I’ve been blessed with the company of a poet, a writer, a lawyer, a mother, a gourmet cook, a gardener, a partner, a friend, a confidant, an advisor, an editor, a lover, and a wife.
When I needed anything she was always there. Standing by my side. Making things right for me. Keeping me out of trouble. Well, mostly.
Her sense of humor was quick and sometimes pierced through the ego of an unsuspecting soul.
If I ever wondered how intelligent she was, that was laid to rest with a word, a fact or a definition. She was always right, and it gave me confidence to know she was.
She wrote some of the most beautiful poetry I’ve ever heard or read. And she was recognized by those publications that judge such things. When she went to a poetry reading to present her work, there were no sheets of papers to read, it was a performance of the words she had written. Every word flowed flawlessly from her lips, making them come alive to the listener.
Her son Joseph Poccia and stepdaughter Jennifer Ann Malone were the recipients of having a mother who taught them to be confident, smart and independent. She loved them with all her heart. They loved her equally.
For the past 33 years she endured the unkindness of breast cancer. Finally it metastasized 13 years ago and hunkered down in her bones. A brilliant oncologist, Dr. Mark Browning, pulled rabbit after rabbit out his hat to keep it there.
On August 2 it was discovered that it had metastasized from her bones to the fluid that surrounds the brain. The most unkind place it could have moved. It took with it her dignity and her life in less than a month.
The lights in this world are not as bright as they were before she died. All who knew her will miss her too but I will miss her the most. The hole in my heart leaves a void that will never be filled.
She died peacefully on the morning of September 1, 2012, by my side where she had been for almost 25 years.
— J. Bruce Baumann
Susan Hamilton (McFadden)
Dear Bruce, I suppose back in 1964 or so, Alison and I would have called it "karma" that today as I was dashing out the door, I got a call from someone at our local Community Foundation. He was asking if I'd join the Arts & Culture Committee. He said he'd send an email, but that I should check my "spam" folder because sometimes his messages get sent to "spam." I never look at the "spam" folder, but at the end of the day, I did and sure enough, I found his message.
I also found a message from 2/11/13 from Sue Devlin, a name I remember from high school, though I can't recall many memories of the person. I didn't know Sue very well, but I was curious enough to check out this website for the Mt. Lebanon class of 1966. I've avoided associations with Mt. Lebanon (for example, I didn't list it on my Facebook page) for various complex reasons that Alison would have understood.
That's how I discovered that Alison died last year. Thank you for the beautiful reflections you posted about her. She will always be the most important friend of my adolescent years and I still think of her often. For example, whenever there's a remembrance of the march on Washington, and Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech, I think of Alison traveling there as a high school student. She taught me so much about life and poetry and goofy fun and emotional distress.
My ambivalence about the pressure-cooker environment of the high school, and about mental health interventions in the 1960s, were born of the pain of our friendship being torn apart at the beginning of our senior year. My family moved to Ohio a year later and I lost contact with most of the people I'd known in high school. No internet combined with the desire to move on and the intensity of the late 60s moved me far away from Mt. Lebanon. But, I never forgot how precious Alison was to me. I heard many years later of her achievements and her struggles with breast cancer. I am so grateful to know of your deep love and the joy she knew with you.
I am so very sad for your loss of this beautiful, talented woman who will always remain special in my heart. In sympathy, Susan
Elaine L. Andrews
Thank you to Marcia and Bruce for sharing this story of a life. A blessing to those who knew her.