Since the publication of the Spring issue, we have had so many changes that I hardly know where to begin.
Working on a volunteer basis has many limitations, and people tend to come and go in cycles. This past year has been a time of saying goodbye to some people who’ve worked on this journal and in various capacities in our umbrella organization for many years. Several hard to replace and very much missed member of our all volunteer staff have left us, including long-time editor, Laurie Dietrich, has moved on to explore opportunities in her career as a performance artist. Annie, our annual retreat accountant, has had an unexpected complicated estate to settle and had to take a leave of absence. Theresa, our tax consultant, has moved on with her career in another field and found that she could not continue with her private clients, including us.
Kristen, our web designer for several years, is retiring in February and to say that she will be very much missed is an understatement of some proportion. It is Kristen who has created the look and feel of this journal and her sister, Roses & Wildflowers. Kristen has always been patient with our questions. Including those we should already know the answers to. Thank you, Kristen, from all of us, and we wish you well on your next adventures.
Very sadly, regular contributor, writer, award-winning poet, and Jungian scholar, Ronald L. Boyer, known to us as Ron, passed away in July. Ron’s work graced our pages many times almost from issue one in the early ‘00s with an interview featuring Hungarian Shaman, Ivan Szendro. Most recently, Ron’s poem “Tammuz Laments” was featured in our creative works magazine, Roses & Wildflowers and the very memorable The Rebirth Archetype in Fairy Tales: A Study of Fitcher’s Bird and Little Red Cap based upon his research at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, CA. Ron had been ill for some time with a serious heart condition and had gone into hospice care early in 2024. We had many delightful conversations over the years and he will be very much missed.
In better news, Dr. Helena Domenic, as she finishes her year as Artist in Residence and we enter preparations for volume 13 this spring, will be joining the Advisory Board for this journal and her “little sister” Roses & Wildflowers. Dr. Yvonne Owens will also be accepting a position on the Advisory Board, joining William Baldwin, and our mentor, Dr. Stanley Krippner. This leaves one vacant space on the board for a tech advisor.
In the Spring, we will be welcoming Jack Ruttan, whose art has been a frequent addition to these pages, as Artist in Residence and Carly Journeyhawk Turner will return to our staff as an arts editor.
We also welcome artist, Shelly Kay, to our social media team, who took up the task when (soon to be Dr.) Subhradeep Chattergee left to focus on his dissertation somewhere in rural India. We wish Subhradeep all good fortune in his research!
For this issue, we also welcomed Sean Sanford to our editorial team, who stepped up to the task with enthusiasm when one of our regular editors, Kyra Freestar, became too ill to continue.
Many changes! And, as of this issue’s publication, the search for a web designer and an accountant commences. Please send any interested parties to [email protected]
We have several ways for you to join us in conversations about our journals.
Bluesky: @rosesandwf.bsky.social
On Instagram at: roses_and_wildflowers_fiction
and on Discord at: https://discord.gg/kqx4Dxau
On Meta at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61556952180076
and: https://www.facebook.com/coreopsisjournal
Or send a Letter to the Editor at [email protected]
Please let us know if you don’t want us to publish your letter in the next issue.
Yours, until next time, your Editor, Lezlie, September, 2024
Lezlie A. Kinyon of a poet, artist and scholar of the humanities. She lives in Berkeley, California, where she edits Coreopsis Journal of Myth & Theatre and Roses & Wildflowers magazine of mythopoeia and fabulism. She’s been known to write poetry and fiction as L. Ann Kinyon, and goes by @LezliethePoet on Twitter and Instagram. Linktree: https://linktr.ee/lezliethepoet