Lyra Knierim one of the mainstays of our writers group died two years ago in 2017. We had been meeting at her Assisted Living facility for years, since she had difficulties walking from late effects of polio she had as a child. But we never heard her complain. She just asked for rides and took her walker with her to writer's conferences.
Lyra might not have been the best writer among us, but her tenacity and commitment to writing was enviable. She may not have known it, but she was the fulcrum of our writing group. Every week she welcomed us with treats and took role. She had been a teacher! She had also done her homework, reading and writing responses to all shared drafts. A grammarian, she even inserted commas. And she wrote - a book on physics for middle schoolers, memoirs of her youth and her sister, even her brother-in-law's life in war-time Germany. In her late 80s, Lyra self-published a book, Christmas Doll and sold it on Amazon. She had a blog!
Since her passing, our group has struggled a bit - rotating meeting places, moving on with other facets of our lives. I am afraid Lyra would be a bit disappointed. She had high standards and great expectations for all of us.
Thank you, Lyra
