Studs for NO on 8

"I'm afraid that when I die and go to Heaven, I'll walk in and the lights will be off. All of a sudden the lights come on and all of my dead relatives yell, "Surprise!!!". As I'm crying with overflowing joy, the Devil walks out and says, "That trick never gets old. All right you bastards, back to work!" Mike Betancourt- from Will the Circle Be Unbroken? Reflections on death, rebirth, and hunger for faith, a book by Studs Terkel.

My husband bought me the book back in 2004..which had been a transformative year for me. I am not religious by any means...but I do believe in angels and other spiritual-type stuff.

There are many moving true stories in this book, but in light of the upcoming NO on 8 vote, the story of Kathy Fagan and Linda Gagnon comes to mind. Here are two lesbians, one in Chicago and one in Florida, who each have eighteen year-old sons (fathered by the same gay guy--think turkey baster), and they eventually end up together. Their sons get acquainted with their father, and later he dies of aids. They met in 1993. I hope they are still together, hope they live in CA and are married (if they want to be), and I pray to the angels that they are able to stay that way.

Below is an excerpt from Mother Jones Mag's interview with Studs:

MJ: The epilogue interested me. It's about two lesbians who were artificially inseminated by a gay activist named Ron Sable, who later succumbed to AIDS.

ST: As soon as I met those two women, Kathy Fagan and Linda Gagnon, I knew I wanted to end the book with them. Here were two lesbian women, and each of them wanted a child. And then, in 1982, this marvelous guy, Ron Sable, said, "I'll give you my sperm." So they each had a baby thanks to him, but they didn't know each other. Then in 1993, a few months before he died, he brought the two women and their sons together at a house on Lake Michigan. Kathy and Linda fell in love, and they eventually became a family. Ron got to watch his kids play. So that's how I end this book—that moment of heaven. I also wanted to get a lick in on those bastards who talk about family values. What's the greatest of all the family values? Love.

As for Studs, he died the other day, at the age of 96. An activist and radio guy all his life...I Love ya Studs!