Lauren Geraghty's Life in Words

I noted the passing of Lauren Geraghty last month and some of the work I knew her for. I neglected to mention her poetry. I never knew if she kept up with it after college, but I fondly remembered her work in The Onyx, Framingham State University's student-run literary magazine, which I had a small hand in putting together for a couple of years when I was a undergrad.

The 1994-1995 issue was the last one I worked on and contributed to (of course I still have copies). Of all the poets, I think she had the most work in the issue, including one of the opening poems, which still makes me chuckle.

I think I may have been against this piece when we first voted. I was so stuck up.

Lauren's worked covered the gamut, from funny verse to poems that touched on her interactions with the world and her disability. 

What many casual readers wouldn't have known reading that issue was that she was the only poet to be represented not only by her work, but by the work of another poet as well. 

Alec Goldman was a fellow student at Framingham State (later at Emerson College too). Like everyone who worked on the journal, he submitted work as well. One such poem captured Lauren at work doing the figure drawing she was known for.

In preparing the pages above, I contacted Alec to see if he wanted to add any thoughts on the piece. He was gracious enough to write the following.

Lauren. I hadn’t thought of her in many years, but she’s the kind of person you instantly remember when you hear her name. The poem Chad selected was written based on a sketch she was doing of mutual friends. There was something about the way she arranged her models, as well as her drawing technique, that fascinated me. 20+ years later the details are kind of blurry, but I remember being inspired enough to respond to it. 

Zichronam l’vracha; may Lauren’s memory be a blessing to all who knew her.

--Alec Goldman

Thank you, Alec. And thank you again Lauren.