Elizabeth Ferrari's Article on Andy Stephenson

Elizabeth Ferrari wrote a wonderful article on Andy Stephenson that appered on OpEdNews.com Thursday morning. I apoloize for not posting this earlier.

Please check out the comments section at the bottom of the article. You'll see what I'm talking about when I discussed getting rid of the "Hoovervilles of the Internet Age" in my Op/Ed for Radio News America.


The Stalking of Andy Stephenson

Did Stevenson Die because of medical care delays caused by rabid right wing hate?

by Elizabeth Ferrari

http://www.opednews.com

I have lived for the last ten weeks with Andy Stephenson’s cancer. And in the most useless way. I couldn’t take it away, couldn’t relieve him of it, couldn’t mind it for a few hours so he could be freed to do the election reform work he so loved.

Andy was one of the most luminous people I have never met, because we never shared room temperature. I read his posts to a discussion board, then exchanged email with him. Later, when he was casting around for access to medical care, we had phone contact, increasingly as his situation became more obviously urgent.

And through the unfolding of our friendship, I understood that this being on the other side of the keyboard or the phone line was remarkable, was a gift walking among us. Sometimes a prickly gift or a demanding one but, all gifts have their peculiar qualities, if only to soften brilliance that laid bare would be blinding for most eyes.

I've heard Andy jubilant and terrified, laughing and sobbing. Playful and petulant. My deepest regret is that I won’t hear him again.

When Andy knew his ill health was serious, I offered to make calls for him. I have made calls for families unable to find resources for over a decade. The public health care system nearly killed my husband, and when we were given a reprieve, I swore I'd work to help anyone to find the care they needed.