Joanna Nealon, the lady I dubbed the First Lady of Stone Soup, is gone. She passed away on Tuesday according to her son David.
Blind from a very young age, Joanna Nealon was a frequent contributor to Stone Soup Poetry's open mic as well as a multiple time feature, reciting all her poems from memory.
She taught me how to walk a blind person to the open mic (or anywhere, really) years before I worked with people in low vision.
At a time when the open mic scene was rough, Joanna added a touch of much-needed grace and class to our venue.
She stands as one of the primary reasons I was able to keep going as a host and organizer during the early years. Her approval of me taking over as host was much needed and appreciated.
People like Joanna, Carol Weston and Walter Howard kept you coming back. For all the tomfoolery, she was guaranteed to give you at least one poem you were glad you showed up for.
Old age and the loss of our easily accessible venue were two factors in her not being able to keep attending our group. Sadly, we were never able to connect via Zoom.
I'm grateful for the footage on YouTube and elsewhere. She put in the work. She gave as much as she could. We should all go back and watch it all and read her books.
We've been poorer without her presence for too many years.
I'm sorry she left us before either sanity or Stone Soup as a live venue could return to the world.
2 comments:
Thank you for this blog post, Chad…for your eulogy here for my dear aunt Joanna, and for all of your help with Stone Soup these many years. It means a lot to us in her family and wider community!
Ps This is Jenafir, her niece who used to come to Stone Soup to hear her whenever I was in town!
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