A To Z Challenge, Day 9: K is for Kaye Coppersmith, A Tribute to my Departed Editor

It was last Thursday, My dear friend and editor passed away. Before going to bed Wednesday evening, she told me and others she wasn’t feeling well. Nausea and fatigue. Well, she never woke up.

This past Monday, for ‘H’ I posted about her sudden death and asked how was I going to replace her as a friend and editor. I know I can really never ever replace either….well, only with a new one who’ll have a different way of looking at things. That’s okay.

And on Monday’s blog comments, my friend from, Texas Playwright Chick , suggested I do a tribute to her for ‘K’ day.

Funny, too, that night Kaye came and visited me in a dream. We met at a park somewhere. We sat at a picnic table across from each other. She wore a bright orange t-shirt. Her usual two pair of glasses hung on a chain around her neck. The same black fanny-pack she always wore hugged her waist, and she pulled out the same chap stick she used on earth and smeared it around her lips.

After, she capped it and shoved it back into her fanny-pack, fluffed up her already disheveled hair, and then handed me my MS she’d been working on. “I’m really sorry I couldn’t finish it, kid.” She smiled.

I shuffled through my MS. Coffee stains tipped its edges. Tiny morsels of her favorite crumb bun speckled a  few pages. I even found a page from a magazine article stuck inside it.

“Sorry about that, too,” she said. “And its probably out of order as well.” She frowned.

I thumbed through it some more. Yep. Out of sequential order. But her penciled notes were there. A few ‘Acks’ and ‘Yaks’ stood out at me. Those were her favorite expressions when I did the abominable writing sin.

I met Kaye in 2008 at a Critique meeting she over saw. I can remember thinking to myself, there’s no way this gal is a professional editor. How could she be with a green hue to her hair? It was a lime-jello-green.

But she proved never to judge a book by its cover. I felt pretty lucky to have a professional editor over seeing my work because I had no clue about  A LOT. She taught me everything I know even though there are times I’m not so sure I grasped it all. Her passion for books and writing beamed from her. She really got excited over some great reads or great lines. Even the ones  the group had written in their work. It showed all rosy in her cheeks. She would just glow over it. And she kept a journal of all her favorite lines from every book she ever read.

She was also a very giving person, volunteering the majority of her time to Florida Writer’s Association. Always at every event giving her time. She also collected coupons for the military families and was an advocate for animals. And best of all, she was my friend.

I’m going to miss you Kayster (that’s what I called her). I already do. I’m so glad I was able to tell you ‘I loved you’ and was able to get one of your bear-hugs before we parted.