Lore Segal, Dies Aged 96

Hello Gentle Reader,

If there is one word to describe Lore Segal it would be: interesting. The term itself sparkles with a gleam to entice curiosity, if not explicitly hook one in. Interesting, however, has been the driving force in which Lore Segal’s miraculous and adventurous life unfolded. Framed by both historical weightiness and tragedy, Segal continued to look to reflect on her experiences and life within the word: interesting. As a child in Austria as the wave of fascism flooded through Europe, and Nazism gripped German and Austria with its ironclad fist, Segal was one of the first group of children to be dispatched from Austria to England on a kindertransport, to escape the escalating antisemitism and violence pulsating through Europe. This is the first time Lore Segal reviewed her surrounding’s with a sense of the understated term ‘interesting,’ as around her on the station, children and parents in tears were set to say their goodbyes, while Segal thought of this as a new adventure, an interesting prospect. It can be theorized that this sense of the absurd or perhaps adventure or interest, is what has perhaps what has saved Segal throughout her life and allowed her to live such a life full of fascinating anecdote and thought, but also adventure. Lore Segal wrote five novels, a host of stories, children’s books, a handful of translations, and countless essays. Her fourth novel “Shakespear’s Kitchen,” was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Each of her works is filled with her characteristic wit and wry sense of humorous in addition to a steadfast thought to moral engagement, but not didactic pandering. Segal’s themes ranged from memory to genocide, migration and the plight of the refugee, assimilation, aging, and death. All of which were handled with her characteristically sharp and witted pen, but also compassionately and tenderly tended too. Grief is never a preoccupation and term. The end only brings something more interesting for Lore Segal, and that has always been the driving force of her life, and most likely met death with the same sense of curiosity and humour.

 
Rest in Peace Lore Segal.
 
Thank you for Reading Gentle Reader
Take Care
And As Always
Stay Well Read
 
M. Mary