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| Kerri Thoreson |
Our friend Louise
Louise Shadduck began her newspaper career at the Coeur d'Alene Press about a half century before mine started. Our paths crossed in the 1980s through the Idaho Press Women organization and the friendship continued. I loved everything about Louise. She blazed many trails in her 92 years, trails that women like me later found easier to travel because of her. She was the only person I know who always used the traditional pronunciation of Coeur d'Alene as "Cur" d'Alene, not "Core" d'Alene. Louise was self-deprecatingly funny and irreverent yet at the same time was one of the most introspective deep thinkers I've known. Her respect for history did not cloud her ability to enthusiastically embrace the future. In more than two decades I never had a conversation with Louise without telling her that I wanted to be just like her when I grew up. Which always made her laugh. We shared an interest in politics, people, story telling, the written word and the fact that this is a wonderful life we live here in Idaho.
A few weeks after my father passed away in 2004 I received a lovely letter from Louise. She told me stories of Dad, offered comfort and made me smile. Her beautiful bygone-era penmanship was a treat in many ways. She instinctively knew that the best gift she could give a grieving heart were those recollections, preserved on paper to tuck away and be read again by generations of our family.
In November I again received a note in that familiar hand, congratulating me on winning a seat on the Post Falls City Council and assuring me that I would serve well. Louise was an extraordinary nurturer and mentor.
Last month during a visit with Katie Brodie, I learned Louise's health was failing. The next day I wrote Louise a breezy note under the guise of wanting to share copies of photographs I'd taken of her in the past few years. I enclosed the photographs, one of me and her at a Women in Red luncheon and some from last October. When I mailed the envelope, I knew it would be the final time I'd tell that incredible woman that when I grew up I wanted to be just like her. I hope it made her smile.
The fact that literally thousands of people of all ages will be recalling special "Louise" stories in the days and weeks to come is testament to the fact that one person can make a lasting impact in this world. That we were blessed to call Louise Shadduck a friend was her gift to us.
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Macie Regusa was feeling the pressure of the calendar during her final weeks of pregnancy. Ten days overdue with her first child, the much-awaited arrival of Logan Michael on April 24 was something of a hat trick. Her father, Mike Regusa, turned 54 on the 24th and her fiance, Tim Ketzenberg celebrated his 25th birthday on the 24th. Proud daddy and grandpa are still over the moon with their birthday "gift."
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In case you're experiencing deja vu with that last item, you're half right. Seems I was half right in the details last week myself. Sometimes info comes to me in patchwork pieces and little Logan deserves to have a correct version for his scrapbook.
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Next week will be the full-blown May birthday candle blow out in Main Street but I want to give a shout out to Kris Pope who turned 50 yesterday and to several people who will be celebrating their Ocho de Mayo birthdays tomorrow ... led by Bayview's 89-years-young Montana Carter who's joined by Dave Walker, Mary Rednour, Jared Raynor and Kerry Park. Ginger Cutler, Anne Hagman, Sharon Culbreth and Bonnie McDowell will celebrate their birthdays on Mother's Day. May 11 was also Mother's Day the year Bonnie was born.
Kerri Rankin Thoreson is a member of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists and the former publisher of the Post Falls Tribune. Kerri can be reached at rkthor52@aol.com or at http://fyinorthidaho.blogspot.com. In honor of Louise Shadduck's contributions to women in journalism and her beginnings on these very pages of the Coeur d'Alene Press more than 70 years ago, Ms. Shadduck's photo appears in Main Street this week.
Denise wrote on May 7, 2008 1:02 PM: