Joanie moved to Seattle for a while a few years back, working the day stalls at the Pike Place Market, doing theatre at night. Six years later she returned to Ashland, happy to be away from big city jive. Then, last June, Joanie was assaulted by a college student as she returned home on her bike from a party at 2am. Her face was smashed and required eleven hour, reconstructive surgery but people rallied, raising money to help with costs. And an event was held, with Joanie participating, to address the problems of violence against women. True to form, she advocated therapy and forgiveness for her attacker and violent or sex offenders in general.
After the assault.
Joanie (in blue) at workshop
2004 was a mixed year. She recovered quickly from the assault, blessed as she put it; took her show back on the road, and was one of the two delegates from Jackson County to attend the DNC but by the end of the year she cut short her 30 city tour due to financial difficulties and, in December, checked herself into an addiction recovery center. Joanie also suffered from bipolar disorder. In January of this year, she spent some time in the Rogue Valley Medical Health Center's Two North facility for depression.
On the evening of January 6th, Joanie killed herself, according to the sheriff's office. On the 11th, a homeless person found her body off the path in a hollowed out space along the Greenway, an area she had helped raise funds to establish. She died from the effects of a drug overdose and hypothermia. A memorial will be held this Sunday at the SOSC campus. She was 48.
Like everyone else, I'm stunned by the news and rethinking the last time we talked. It was the only real conversation we ever had. It took place just after she got back from Seattle. It was one of those locker room talks. We sat and caught up on the changes. We never spoke again but ever since, on and off, I've wondered how she's doing. She was so restlessness that day. I'm really sad she slipped through the cracks but not entirely surprised. She was a commanding actress.
Lyrics from the Eagle's song, "Desperado" keep running through my head tonight. They certainly don't seem to fit Joanie's outgoing, sunny personality. Everybody loved her. But they came to mind that day at the gym and they've been weaving in and out of my thoughts since this afternoon, when I heard she committed suicide.
"Desperado, why don’t you come to your senses?
Come down from your fences, open the gate
It may be rainin’, but there’s a rainbow above you
You better let somebody love you,
You better let somebody love you,
You better let somebody love you,
before it’s too late".
More photos
2 comments:
I'm not actually anonymous, just don't have a blogger account. But I was surfing for information on Joanie. Her death was shocking and I wanted to find out more. I had no connections with Joanie's friends in Ashland but I did know Joanie on a professional level. She sold us sponsership on NPR. The funny thing is, she sold us these sponsorship spots, but as soon as I met Joanie, it didn't seem like a professional relationship. Not to say she didn't act in a professional manner, because she did, it was more like she became an instant friend! That is a rare thing. Joanie was the kind of person you just couldn't help from liking. She carried the "liking" gene. You came in contact with her, you liked her! She burst with energy! It came at you, straight away, not from the side or hidden, just right up front. It saddened me to think this bright soul was eclipsed by something ominous and dense. Something which eventually consumed her life flame. I feel for Joanie in her desperation, because that is what it truly is, this illness, which extinguishes all hope, light and life. She is gone now, past the suffering, past the confusion, past the ironic juxtaposition of elation and despair. We are here to ponder it. It's always why?? Why? I don't think there is a simple answer. It would be easier if there was. It would make more sense to us if we could put a clear cut reason to it. As Kay Redfield Jamison, Ph.D, says "It is an illness that is biological in its origins, yet one that feels psychological in the experience of it; an illness that is unique in conferring advantage and pleasure, yet one that brings in its wake almost unendurable suffering and, not infrequently, suicide." I had a friend, where I used to live, about 4 years ago, who too suffered from bipolar disorder. I knew him quite well, knew his wife and his children. My son and his daughter have know each other from birth. About 5 years ago my friend did as Joanie did, ended his own life. He left a 5 year old and a 2 year old. This friend was unquestionably the funniest person I'd had ever met. He was incredibly charismatic and could command the attention of a room almost instantly. But like Joanie, there was something else going on inside as well. He was 36 years old and I still get angry when I think about it. So, what do we do? Besides mourn and cry? We need to educate ourselves and each other about this and other mental illnesses. We need to be bold when we see signs of this in our friends. Bipolar is treatable and prognosis is often good for treated patients, but they must absolutely have correct diagnosis and proper treatment. For more information please see:http://www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/bipolar.cfm
If you know someone who you think may be suffering from bipolar, please do something to help them, because they may be unable to help themselves. The course of the illness supercedes their ability to make clear decisions regarding their own welfare.
All of the bios, and memorials on Joanie have a large piece missing. Yes, Joanie moved to Seattle, and then six years later returned to Oregon. Why no mention ever that in those six years Joanie was married to a wonderful, loving man, and was welcomed as a member of another family? And yes, there was anger and grief when she chose to leave, but that means nothing now compared to the grief and loss we now feel about her death.
I just think that if the story of Joanie is being told, it should be the whole story.
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