Δαφνη Ευτυχια Αρθουρος

Ever notice how some posts take a lot longer to type? I started this more than an hour ago ...

I had planned to write about other things the next time I sat down to write. Unfortunately, when I checked my email I found some unexpected bad news.

It is with great regret that I send this email to all members of Dawn Culbertson's email community. As some of you may or may not have heard, Dawn passed away suddenly at an English Country dance on Thanksgiving. This news is certainly shocking to all those who knew her, since her health seemed fine right up to the moment of the coronary that took her from us.

For those who are interested, a memorial service will be held for Dawn on Sunday, Dec. 12, at 4:30 at the North Baltimore Mennonite Church, 4615 Roland Avenue.

As you know, Dawn was an active lutenist, recorder player and singer in the Baltimore-Washington area. So it may not come as a surprise that a memorial CD is being prepared by George Spica. It will include performances by Dawn over the last 10 years and be available for purchase at the service, with proceeds going to a memorial fund for her.

Also, the family is looking for musicians, particularly lutenists, who knew Dawn to play at the service. Anyone interested in participating in this or any other way at the service is encouraged to email [...]

Dawn's lively, active, caring presence will be sorely missed. It is a sad time for all of us who counted her a friend.

(I've cut out details such as email addresses that I haven't yet asked for permission to post on the web. If you knew Dawn, email me for those.)

Dawn was supposed to play recorder for the dancing at Darkover. I had wondered why she hadn't shown up. Now I know. I'm still in that "Wait, tell me this is just a dream or a misunderstanding" stage ... I'll pull my thoughts together for more of what I want to say about her later; for now I want to get this posted to get word out to people who knew her but weren't CC'd on the email I got. Local SCAdians may remember her; I performed with her at some feasts in Storvik, I don't know whether she also played for Bright Hills events, but figure it's likely since she lived here.

As if being a lutenist wasn't distinctive enough, in addition to the expected early music repertoire she also performed 1980s punk rock on lute, a combination which worked far better than it had any right to.

After I saw the email, I hit Google. It turned up a page with a lot more information about her life, an announcement of a memorial this Sunday in addition to the one a week away mentioned above, and details of her final day -- that just before she died she had enjoyed dinner with friends and, dancing: "I go into these details because I think it's important to know that she had a lovely time the last few hours of her life, she seemed to die suddenly and without pain, and that knowledgeable assistance was immediately offered."