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June 25, 2001
As you know, Donald Grant DeMan was given his final tribute at a funeral service held Saturday morning at Courtenay, on Vancouver Island British Columbia, Canada.
Donald's service was attended by many people and as Diane, Don's wife tells us, "Don had a fabulous, Spiritual, Creative send-off."
So an era is over. Donald Grant DeMan, who supplied Inditer.com with dozens and dozens of short stories, commentaries and essays is no more. Hi friends will not forget him. Those who met him on the internet, through his writing will not forget him.
As a courtesy to Donald Grant DeMan, his writings within Inditer.com will stay there for a while.
It has been our pleasure to have had the opportunity to post all of this writing, for only once in a rare while will we stumble across a talent like that of Donald Grant DeMan.
You may Email Diane DeMan or send snail mail to:
Don & Diane DeMan,
3983 Royston Rd,
Royston, BC, Canada, V0R 2V0
June 24, 2001
Hi. Bill --
The news about D. Grant DeMan was shocking beyond words. My heart goes out
to his wife. The last time that he and I had corresponded was when he sent
me a link to his column in McLeans and I had complimented him on it. I
didn't know him very well, but he struck me as such a talented and gracious
man. Jim had known him through me and through reading the hilarious entries
into his recent contest. Jim retrieved the emails tonight and was as
shocked as I am.
I can't begin to imagine how much he will be missed by so many. The
news is still sinking in, and I am terribly, terribly sorry.
Caroline Sposto
The Sposto Production Website
June 23, 2001
Hi Bill:
Keep spirits up.
I am saddened by the news of Donald Grant DeMan's Death.
I was touched and impressed that he was still capable of producing great literature up to the very end when he must have been feeling ill. And Donald Grant must have been aware the end was coming. "Reflections" is a worthy valediction.
In Owning Wawa , Donald Grant approximates the search that I as Mentor have undertaken not so much of a place but a state of mind.
Much of my researches into shipping, the history of mathematics, and other matters may be regarded by some as fruitless. Yet I have never been disappointed with my readings of Donald Grant DeMan's works. Cheerio,
James Woodburry Lord Rowe, MENTOR RPPS
June 22, 2001
To: The Editor
I'm not sure this is the right way to contact you as it was Don who introduced me to Inditer.
Be that as it may, just want to say that I was so excited after we re-connected with Don after many years - we were friends in our high school days and after - he was a totally good friend in every sense of the word - I knew his family, he knew mine and many adventures were shared. As my mother always said, who ever told you anything was fair? The re-connection we anticipated will never happen, but DAMN! At least we got to talk thru the e-mail! Yeeesssss!
ed note: welcome home Archie. Your Ma was right, nothing is ever fair, but I'll bet Donald Grant DeMan was as overjoyed as you....even with an e-mail. You figure you might share some of those adventures with Inditer.com readers?
June 22, 2001
I have been pondering the past few days about how our lives are forever divided into before and after. A co-worker who lost her property to a tornado last week will always refer to before the tornado and since the tornado. My friend Annie thinks of her lives in terms of when Bob was alive, and since Bob died. For myself, it's before the house fire I had, or I did, or I knew where. Now I think in terms of since the fire I can't find, or I miss.
I was just getting to know Donald Grant DeMan. He was giving me tidbits which helped jump-start my fumbling writing career. Sadly, now I will have to live with yet another "before and since" in my life. I am humbled by life, and so aware of its fleeting moments. Just yesterday, a co-working died on the job as the result of an industrial accident. Too much death this year, so much sadness.
My husband and I send our prayers to Donald's family, friends, and all who were touched by his gentle words of encouragement.
Sincerely,
June 21, 2001
Dear Bill:
It's hard to write through the tears.
I have a letter sitting here in front of me. I was going to mail it - last week. I was going to mail it to Don with an update and an apology for not sending off when I wrote it. But now I don't have to send it. Besides, I am sure Don has already found the time to read it. Don 'is' like that. Always making time for all of us.
I am going to miss him so much. I always wanted to say, "Don, don't call me Frances; it feels so formal." But Don was never formal, just friendly. And, oh so caring and helpful.
Diane's life will be what? I cannot imagine living with the loss of such a wonderful husband, but then, I feel he will be there comforting her. I think Don has the power to do that. As for me, I'll print out 'Reflections' and hang it on my wall so that I will always remember the man who had time for everyone. Don's writing has so many lessons for life; lessons that I need.
Goodbye Don. We will all miss you.
With Love,
June 21, 2001
Dear Bill,
Read about the sad news on your site. Don't know what to say, but the words of Donald Grant DeMan are still alive to keep us company, and You most of all. We living need to be consoled and words fail me to offer this gift of consolation to you since he was your close friend. Only that his peaceful journey in this cycle of birth and death is enviable to us all living, with the hope that we could greet our end with smiles on our faces. But your loss and pain are greatly felt, and my heartfelt condolences to Diane and the whole family.
With thoughts of comfort, prayer and good health, take care, my Friend,
June 20, 2001
I lived with Don through these past few months. We both knew something was happening. Don could not lay down his pen (keyboard)....or his paint brushes.
I spoke with Don just two days before he left...jjust hours after he had told Diane, "I have to go". Please, read it again, and read "Reflections" slowly and carefully - - it contains a message for us all.
ed note:
It is imperative you read it again. I speak of "Reflections" - a piece written by Donald Grant DeMan for his 65th birthday, just a month ago. "Reflections" a wonderful self-examination by Donald is certainly the most prophetic bit of writing I have ever read. To think, Donald Grant DeMan wrote this during the last month of his life.
June 20, 2001
Dear Bill:
I am so sorry to hear the news. I feel like I've lost a very dear friend, as I am sure all of the Inditer family do. What a loss for us all. My thoughts and prayers are with Diane in this difficult time. Bill, I want to thank you so much for giving us The Inditer and thus the opportunity to meet Donald Deman.I feel so fortunate for having known him.I feel like he lived his life to the fullest. Reading again, Reflections fills me with encouragement and hope. Donald Grant Deman was, and will continue to be an inspiration to us all.
Thanks again Bill for being so generous to all of us. I hope you are feeling OK these days and I'm so sorry for your loss.
June 20, 2001
The tributes to Donald Grant DeMan continue. In the e-mail this morning:
When I checked the site today to see how Don was fairing, I was distressed to hear that he was already gone. The few e-mails I received from Don were always full of encouragement and *smiles*. His humor and leadership will be sorely missed. My deepest condolences to Diane, and to you as well dear Bill.
With thoughts and prayers,
June 20, 2001
Bill -
There isn't much that anyone can do or even say that would be of any real, true comfort to those who were close to Donald Grant DeMan, except maybe to say that they probably still feel close to him. I suppose this is as it should be. We can get to know a person through his or her work - not in the same way as an in-person meeting would allow us, but in a way that's very real and just as valid. I didn't know him "personally" - but I knew him, many of us knew him, through his writing: it outlived him and it will outlive us. I just wish that this hadn't happened to him, and to those close to him.
I so wish this had not happened.
June 20, 2001
We also bring your attention to a special column by friend and regular contributor, Kimit Muston
June 19, 2001
Bill,
After reading of our loss, I would like to express my condolences to Don's wife Diane, to you Bill, and to all the rest of us at the Inditer. Don was first class in every way, as a person, a writer, and I'm sure a loving husband to Diane, who will certainly miss him the most.
As the song goes, "Is That all There is.?"
No Don, for you the best is yet to come.
June 19, 2001
A short communication from Diane DeMan today. She wanted me to tell you all that Don had a peaceful sleep the night before, awoke happy, smile on his face and in a little while was gone. He said simply, "I have to go"
There was no pain, no suffering. We are all grateful for that.
Here are a few comments from some of the folks of the Inditer.com family:
Dearest Bill:
I am completely stunned by this news! Please convey our heartfelt condolences to his wife and friends and loved ones, especially you. I am so very sorry.
With deepest regards,
Samantha and Kimit Muston
I just wanted to say back to Don, wherever he now is, that I love you, Don and will miss you so much. We'd been email friends for quite a while and I looked forward to his frequent joyful messages.
I never met Don in person but his personality came through very clearly in the emails and in his writing. From this I know that he still exists somewhere out there and I am certain he is enjoying his new state of being as much as he seemed to enjoy his life as Don Deman.
My heart goes out to his wife.
You are in our thoughts and prayers, Diane.
Bill,
I was shocked and saddened when I read your update on Don in the
Inditer last night. I snail- mailed a couple of cards to to him at
St.Joseph's Hospital last week; didn't dream he would not live to read
them. I sent Diane a note via e:mail last night. I hope she has plenty of
good support around her. Don has often expressed, in email notes to me,
his amazememt at your courage as you keep going in spite of your obstacles.
Little did he or we know that he would go so soon. Although my association
with Donald Grant DeMan was brief, he will always hold a place in my heart
as a dear friend.
Hope you have a good day and thanks again. Don was lucky to have you for a
friend.
Bill:
Naturally I Am crestfallen to read the news.
I feel uniquely honoured that Don's last piece in Inditer was dedicated to me.
In writing back to you, I forgot to ask: How are you taking the news?
I realize you and Donald Grant lived pretty far apart and never met but I also know that you were nonetheless very close to him.
My condolences extend thus to you as well as to Diane.
Grant ran a string of police stories (Dead by a Damn Site, Locked Cabin, Binny Flowers, Hot Rod Hearts) where each one in succession was so good I never figuered he could top it and then Grant did just that.
"The impossible, we do today; the miraculous will wait for tommorrow." (David Ben Gurion)
And the loss to all Inditer-ists is immeasurable. If you are the Cecil Rhodes of an Empire of Literate English, then Donald Grant was its Lord Kitchner who marshalled the forces by his ceaseless encouragement to the other writers.
ed note: Dear John: Thanks for including me in your note. Donald Grant DeMan and I did have a special relationship. Before Don left, he joked with Diane, "Bill and I now have a contest - who gets to wear his golden wings first." Donald Grant DeMan won.
Dear Bill -
I have had the email off this weekend, and what sad news now. Thank you for
letting me know. Don was such an incredible human being, and it was my
privlege to share a wonderful correspondence with him over the past few
months, -- I know I am a better person for having had that exchange of ideas
with him. And then to have been blessed again by association with Diane, who
is also a tremendous human being. But I'd never have met either of them
without Inditer. Thank you, Bill, for brining us all together. And I have a
feeling that even if Don has left this earth, he's still part of the group,
and probably looking down right now saying something along the lines of,
"Well don't just sit there...write something new...."
All the best to you,
Kathryn Jennings-Hancock
June 17, 2001
Donald Grant DeMan died at 8:15 this morning. In a phone conversation with his wife Diane, we heard that Don was with Diane, his friend Larry at whose place he had been temporarily staying, his pastor and other local friends.
Don apparently told Diane, when he awoke this morning, "I've got to go".
Just two weeks ago, Donald Grant DeMan was diagnosed with liver cancer. He was hospitalized very briefly. When it was discovered nothing could be done Don was moved to an apartment supplied by his friend Larry, as the DeMan's had just begun renovations at their own place.
Messages may be sent to Diane at their regular Email address, at their regular snail mail address, or to their temporary snail mail address. If there is further information, we will post it here in The Inditer.
Two days ago, June 15th, I had been given the DeMan's new telephone number so I could call Diane. I phoned Diane. As fortune would have it, Diane and Don had just arrived at their temporary dwelling moments before. Diane allowed me to speak to Don for a few moments.
Don asked me to use this page to tell all who have been writing to him to say, "thanks for a cards and the letters. I love you all."
June 15, 2001
Donald Grant DeMan has left hospital and is staying at an apartment in Comox supplied by a friend. This apartment is near their home at Royston, BC, Canada. Don and Diane had just started renovations to their own place when Don became ill, so they have taken up temporary residence in the new place. For now, the new Snail Mail address for Don is:
Donald Grant DeMan,
c/o Larry Turney,
126 Coteau,
Comox, BC,
Canada, V9M 2P8
Early this afternoon, (PST), I telephoned Diane at the new apartment. To my delight, Don was at the apartment, having just returned from hospital, and I was given the opportunity to speak with him very briefly. Don is extremely weak so our conversation was kept short.
I have asked permission of Diane to publish the phone number at the new place so other friends of Dons will be able to telephone him. That permission has not yet been given and may not be given. However, I do have permission to telephone Don now and then. If there is any further news it will be passed along right here.
Please send Don a card or short letter by snail mail to the above address. I know he will be delighted to hear from you.
June 14, 2001
Yesterday, June 13th, Don had a reasonably good day. He was returned to his hospital at Comox, and is resting comfortably. Diane, Don's wife, tells us the CT scan told us nothing....or lat least, as Diane puts it "The CT Scan tells us nothing can be done"
From what we understand, Diane says "Don will likely be 'sprung' on Friday. That would normally mean that he would be going home. But, because Don and Diane had just embarked upon extensive home renovations just before Don became ill, he will be taken to a friends home.....near to his own home, and near to his home hospital. Yesterday, Don accepted a phone call from Britain and was visited by his favourite pastor.
We expect to hear more from Diane DeMan sometime today.....if not, certainly by tomorrow and will post any new inmformation we receive right here and as soon as possible. Stay tuned. Our very best wishes to Don and Diane DeMan.
June 13, 2001 - - -
This morning, Diane DeMan was in touch with your editor. Don was in the Hospital at Comox, Vancouver Island, BC, near is home at Royston. Yesterday, (Tuesday) he was taken my ambulance to a larger hospital at Campbell River in order to get a CT Scan. He had the scan and is now back to the Comox Hospital, where he is resting. Diane tells us there is a chance that Don may be discharged and permitted to go home either Thursday or Friday. She also said the trip to the hospital at Campbell River, although just 30 miles or so, was very hard on Don.
Any mail that was sent to Donald at the hospitals, either at Comox or Campbell River will be forwarded to Don, if he is permitted to go home this weekend. Whatever the event, snail mail sent will all reach Don no matter where is was sent. If you have a wish to send Don DeMan a letter or card by snail mail, from now on, please use the following address:
Don & Diane DeMan,
3983 Royston Rd,
Royston, BC, Canada, V0R 2V0
It is our sincere wish that our Friend, Donald Grant DeMan will feel much better very soon, and that he will be able to join Diane at their home in Royston.
Just as soon as we have further information, we will post it on this page.
An Update on the condition of Donald Grant DeMan, posted June 11, 2001. We now know that Don was stricken with liver cancer and is very ill and partially under the care of the Hospice Society at Comox, BC, Canada, just a short distance from his home at Royston, BC, on Vancouver Island.
Don is very ill and would like to hear from Inditer.com readers and contributors.
Please send snail-mail cards and letters to:
D. Grant DeMan,
St. Joseph's Hospital, Room 208,
2137 Comox Avenue,
Comox, BC, Canada, V9M 1P2
Please click here to send e-mail to Don & Diane DeMan, (deman30@home.com)
or snail mail to;
Don & Diane DeMan,
3983 Royston Rd,
Royston, BC, Canada, V0R 2V0
email Diane DeMan - deman30@home.com - she will see that Don gets the message.....and as a special request and favour....please send a Snail Mail Letter (if you remember how to do that) to Don:
D. Grant DeMan,
St. Joseph's Hospital, Room 208,
2137 Comox Avenue,
Comox, BC, Canada, V9M 1P2
'Vox Populi', get started! Send in your comments and critique on Inditer dot Com writers. Inditer.com is a community of like minded writers. Each wants and deserves the help of the other. Do it! It won't cost a dime! You'll be glad you helped!
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