Liam Rector, 1949-2007

I just received the following email from Victoria Clausi of the Bennington Writing Seminars, where I took my MFA & built close community.

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“I said to my soul, be still, and wait without hope
For hope would be hope for the wrong thing;”

--T.S. Eliot

It is with unbearable sorrow that I write to tell you that our beloved founder and director, Liam Rector, killed himself yesterday morning.

“Fare forward O voyager.”

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that any donations be made to the Liam Rector Scholarship Fund at The Writing Seminars of Bennington College, to organizations in support of Free Speech, or to The Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP).

Liam is survived by his wife, Tree Swenson, and his daughter, Virginia Rector.

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I'm not sure what to say, except that I feel an achy need to get down close to the ground, to hold onto the planet, and dig my fingernails into the dirt while I'm on the surface. I cannot imagine making the choice Liam did. Sad's a weak word.