It is with great regret that I must announce the passing of our own Jeanne Hedge on October 1st. Bert van Vliet was not privy to the details, but apparently, Jeanne had been in the hospital for several weeks.Here's her obituary:
https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/name/jeanne-hedge-obituary?pid=194064582
Many of us old-timers remember Jeanne as a frequent denizen of the old USEnet groups, including rec.arts.anime, rec.arts.anime.creative and alt.fan.bgcrisis. When MegaZone retired from moderating r.a.a.c., she was one of a team recruited to do the job. A frequent contributor to the FFML, she could be counted on for astute and intelligent criticism of stories. She was not afraid to be honest, but she didn't phrase it in the harsh, "tell it like it is" vernacular we see nowadays. She didn't say that a story "sucked," just that it could have been better.
While she didn't write very much fanfiction, she loved reading it. Looking through the archives of this very forum, she gave praise where she thought it was due. She was even moderator of the Anime Central Fanfiction Panel for several years after Ryan Matthews retired from the post. After a few years, I volunteered to pick up the role.
Back in the early days of anime fandom, she loved the close-knit community of the Artists' Alley at Anime Central. She especially admired the work of Denise Jones, a mutual friend of ours.
On Friday or Saturday night of the con, the friends and family of the Fanfiction Panel would go to a local Denny's or other restaurant. As the years passed, she joined myself, Denise, Phil Moyer and a few others on what I would call, "The Sushi Run." We didn't go to Mitsuwa; it was too crowded there, and they closed at 8. No, we went to a little hole-in-the-wall place called "Nobu's Japanese Restaurant" where we'd talk about--well, anything that came to mind over good sushi.
If memory serves me correctly, our last sushi run was in 2010. I'd always hoped that we could reconnect and get the gang back together. But now the restaurant is gone and...she's gone. Life is change.
You'll be missed, Jeanne. And if I ever write a scene with Stan Tai, the Sentai Detective, I'll be sure to have him whip off a salute to you.
--Doc
Well, hell.I was just thinking the other day that we hadn't heard from Jeanne in a while. Things have been slow around here lately, sure, but she was never the quiet one.
I'm surprised to learn she was that much older than me. Still far too young for this, of course. :/
She's at least the third reader of ours I can think of who has gone too soon (that we know of). It's always such a shock.
--G.
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Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.