By Paul Shannon
Funny how you assume certain people will always be there, because they always are there.
I can’t remember a time when Marty was not there. (Do you?)
Someone you could depend on if you needed her help.
Someone with a big view of the world.
Someone who was traveling along with you even when you would not see each other for long periods.
Someone you could call; would answer; and would say yes.
Someone who remembered the old days. When we were young. And filled with anger and hope.
Someone who never pulled rank on you. After all these years I never knew that she was a medical doctor. I never knew that her husband was killed by the Klan in Greensboro.
Someone who knew the score. The kind of person with whom you want to build a new world because it would surely be a good one.
Someone whose loss you never expected and whose actual loss leaves a hole in things that just can’t really be filled.
I know that for myself I have not even begun to miss her.
We were friends. Not best friends. More like comrades in arms, I guess.
Yes, I will miss her very much.
All of us will miss her even if we didn’t know her. Because Marty Nathan was one of those people who hold the world together for everyone.
More appreciations: Marty Nathan, Presente! and Remembering Marty Nathan: Go Make the Revolution