Valerie_z

It's been spreading around LJ so I'm sure many of you already know, but valerie_z has died. I'm so sorry to be the bearer of this terrible news to anyone who hadn't yet heard.

Her sister talula728 first posted:

My sister, valerie_z is in the hospital and I don't expect her to make it. Due to some drug interaction, her lithium levels became toxic and for some reason no one understands yet, her brain swelled and yesterday she had no brain activity.

and then:

I was so touched by all your comments and posts that I read about my sister valerie_z. I started replying to all of you and then I just couldn't anymore, so consider this a blanket thank you. Her second test confirmed no brain activity and they are going to be working tonight and tomorrow on finding possible recipients for her viable organs. I am also going to make some calls tomorrow and set up a scholarship fund for creative writing students at the local college where she taught. I was trying to think of a charity for donations and my dad said, "Who did she feel sorry for?" to which I said, "People who don't understand the difference between their, they're and there, and also people who misuse apostrophes."

I can't believe I'll never see her again and I'll have to live the rest of my life without her. It's not fair to her. She was just getting things back together, she was starting her PHD program next week, was teaching three online classes, had a job interview this past Tuesday to do some editing, and she had an amazing boyfriend and he really loved her just as she was. She wasn't ready to go, and I am so mad at the stupid universe right now.

I'm so sad for all of us who considered her a friend. She was an integral part of fandom for a lot of people, the person who introduced fans to each other. She was so ridiculously smart, and she had the most amazing sense of humor, and her death is another example of how awfully unfair life can be. :-(

More 2013 books

3. Laura: The Life of Laura Ingalls Wilder by Donald Zochert. I was a huge fan of the Little House books as a kid, and I read somewhere online that the differences between "what actually happened" and the stories in the books were interesting, so I had to read it. It was okay.

4. Horns by Joe Hill. This is Stephen King's kid. He writes good. Read his stuff. Unless you don't like horror, in which case... not so much.

5. The River Cottage Family Cookbook by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Fizz Carr. This is a British cookbook. It reads like a British cookbook, there are recipes for custard and it talks about pancakes with lemon juice and sugar. I probably won't make anything from it.

6. Gender Shock by Phyllis Burke. Really interesting and educational (and sort of depressing) if you're into nonfiction.