Tee Corinne Updates

faithful blog. i think we’ve all grown fond of it, over the months.

so, here’s a reminder: if you’d like to donate to the university of oregon so they can do all the magic that will likely need done to tee’s several truckloads of papers and artifacts, make checks payable to UO Foundation/Libraries, with “In memory of Tee Corinne” in the memo line, and mail to the Library Development Office, 1299 University of Oregon, Eugene OR 97403-1299.

or, if you’d like to increase the size of The Tee A. Corinne Prize for Lesbian Artists (JEB is expecting some strong applications, and might even award more than one), send a tax-deductible check to Moonforce Media, PO Box 13375, Silver Spring, MD 20911, with “Tee Corinne prize” in the memo line.

i’m sure we all still want to do something. these are somethings many of us can still do.

Judith and I were stunned today to learn of Tee’s death. We didn’t even know she had been ill. Tee was one of those women we counted on to be there, doing her work, being her extraordinary self, but we weren’t in touch that often. We’d known her for several decades.

We’d like to coordinate contributions for a stone at Soapstone in her name. Probably you know about Soapstone, a nonprofit writers’ retreat for women in Oregon’s Coast Range. Judith and I have both been involved with it for many years. (www.soapstone.org). The Stones for Soapstone page explains the memorial and other stones: http://www.soapstone.org/support_pages/stones_for_soapstone.html.

These stones, and the written material about the woman named (kept in a book at the retreat) are a profound inspiration to the women writers who come there to write and we think would be a fitting memorial–one of them–to Tee

It takes $1000 in contributions. We, of course, would contribute. We’d like to be in touch with others who might want to join in this. Is there some way this could be posted on the blog?

Ruth Gundle & Judith Barrington
retreats@soapstone.org

Soapstone, A Writing Retreat for Women
622 SE 29th Avenue
Portland, OR 97214
503/233-3936
http://www.soapstone.org
retreats@soapstone.org

(jesse read this to tee at the party last saturday.)

An Apple for the Teacher

Tee A. Corinne is many things. First and foremost she is an artist. Successful, a leader in her chosen field, she is also a writer, a Canasta Maven, a pillar of several communities and a Teacher.

Tee is dying. Her body is fighting cruel cancerous tumors that leave her a bit weaker each day. But her appetite for life, and the living of it has remained very strong, and has added a glow that surrounds her in a mantle of light that is almost startling to me. Her bearing is regal, her intelligence and love shine in her eyes. She adores being with her many friends and conversing. A power napper, she has good days and bad days, but her caring, thoughtfulness and impeccable manners still rule. A true southern lady.

I believe she takes care and pleasure in choosing each player to participate in her canasta soirees. I think she enjoys inviting people to play in a particular game that she thinks might pursue a relationship that may develop. She is a weaver of webs.

I don’t know what follows death; I don’t believe that anything does really. It seems to me that if there really were a kindly, omnipotent being in charge of everything, he/she would have given the cancer to Osama Bin Laden rather than our dear, sweet Tee.

I can’t give Tee a magic pill to right her health. But I can and do give Tee my admiration, my respect and my love.

tangren alexander sent me a bunch of pictures she and tina freimuth took the day before tee died. they’re here.

i know this has been a source of confusion for the last six months. the minute tee introduced me to jeanne in march, i just shook my head and said “it can’t be helped.”

jeanne simington (pronounced gee-knee sigh-ming-tun) is, in my humble opinion, a quacking saint. she has handled all tee’s financial matters for at least six months, on top of a million other things. hardly a day went by that she didn’t come by poppyseed for at least a brief visit. she collected mail, chauffeured to doctor appointments, battled social security to the death to get tee some benefits, and in her spare time did more than her share of dishes. plus, she’s a swell cook. at the same time, her husband george has been battling cancer. his is the treatable kind, but jeanne is absolutely worn to a nubbin.

i’d suggest that we all take some of that light we’ve grown so expert at directing, and fill her up. she’s plumb tuckered out, and everybody who loved tee owes jeanne a debt of gratitude.

as for the jean: that would be the one who writes and signs the blog entries. alert readers will have noticed a touch of multiplicity, considering that the dragon has her own way of doing things.

thus endeth our primer. perhaps i should have done this earlier, but there were always more important things to report.

charlotte hutt, probably tee’s closest friend, has stepped up to the plate and agreed to do the organizing for the memorial. i’m not going to put her name or email on the internet, but if you email me, i’ll tell you how to reach her.

just a reminder: it’s at saturday, september 23, at 11am, at the sunny valley town hall.

huzzah for charlotte! don’t anybody argue with her about it, or the dragon will get you.

A living memorial is being set up for Tee Corrine through the RCC Foundation. If you wish to contribute, just send your tax deductible contribution to the RCC Foundation. The plan is to purchase a tree/shrub to plant on campus with a plaque. Michael Raines will help choose the appropriate plant for the right location. If money remains, a student scholarship will be created in Tee’s name.

RCC Foundation
3345 Redwood Highway
Grants Pass, Oregon 97527
(541) 956-7327 | Fax: (541) 471-3591

let’s use the blog to tell each other tee stories. not everybody will be able to come to the memorial (september 23, sunny valley town hall, 11-3), but we can all share our memories here.

what’s your favorite story involving tee corinne?

here’s (one of) mine: tee remembers meeting me and my lover, cara vaughn, for the first time at a party in new york city, probably in 1981. she got into the elevator with us, and on the way down, asked if we’d pose nude for her. cara said “no” before tee had quite finished asking the question. since our policy was that whoever cared more about something generally got her way, i didn’t argue. (i’d have considered it, but cara was definite.) tee says she decided that minute that she needed to leave new york and go back to the west coast, where the women were more accommodating.

and that’s why the southern oregon community owes cara and me a debt of gratitude. we sent her straight into your arms.

okay. who’s next? remember to sign your post, unless anonymity is more comfortable for you.

Our beloved Tee left the world she’s known for sixty-two years Sunday, August 27, 2006, at 1:15 p.m. She was surrounded by devoted friends from around the globe. She was at peace with her world and remained grateful for the riches she has enjoyed in life.

The loving and productive efforts of so many people who served with no expectations of return or reward made Tee a very wealthy woman and made each and every one of us richer. Our gifts from Tee and from each other made us stronger, more closely-knit and truly grateful.

Details of her memorial services will be posted soon. Anyone who wishes to contact me, her designated Executrix, will find me accessible at: geeknee@a1pro.net. My phone number is: 541-474-7645. For my ease in continuing to handle all business matters for Tee and her estate, I have opened a post office box closer to my home. All Tee’s mail will be forwarded to: P. O. Box 633, Merlin, Oregon 97532

Virtually all of Tee’s estate will become the property of the University of Oregon, Special Collections and University Archives in the University of Oregon Libraries.

In lieu of flowers, contributions in Tee’s name should be made payable to UO Foundation/Libraries, with “In memory of Tee Corinne” in the memo line, and should be mailed to the Library Development Office, 1299 University of Oregon, Eugene OR 97403-1299.

tee corinne died peacefully in her home at poppyseed, surrounded with love, gratitude, blessings, and songs from near and far. she was a bright shining star. the work that she did, in teaching, making art, writing, and publishing, changed thousands of lives. her work lives on, and she is translated to her next adventure.

she hopes she’ll be allowed to keep some of the skills she learned in this one.

she was conscious of the love and light that surrounded her until the end, and she was grateful for it. now, as always, it is our responsibility to take the gifts she gave us, and put them to use, and make them count.