I believe sometimes things do happen for a reason
-- A person dying the same day and “owning” an organ another person direly needs
-- seeing a friend right before they die

Tonight while I worked on my personal essay for grad school I needed to check the spelling of Douglass and decided to go to the website of the center I used to volunteer at, the Frederick Douglass Creative Arts Center. There the front page read:

The family and friends of the Frederick Douglass Creative Arts Center mourn the passing of our beloved president and artistic director, Fred Hudson, who died last Thursday at his home in Manhattan. He was a wonderful writer, leader, teacher, mentor, and visionary, the clear-sighted center of our Center, its driving force, its heart and soul, for more than 30 years.

Funeral Services for Fred Hudson will be on Thursday, February 20, 2003 at 7 P.M. at:

Saint Phillips Episcopal Church
204 West 134th Street
New York, NY 10030
(between 7th & 8th Avenues, Powell and Douglass Blvds.)
212-862-4940

I was completely thrown off after reading it and psst off at myself for not knowing he had passed away. Strangely enough, I had decided to stop and see him about two weeks prior to his passing. At the time, it seemed like a random event-- I just wanted to see how things were and thank him for the recommendation letter he had provided that had garnered me the job with the kids. I had not been up there since like September 2002.

When I saw him he was busy as usual, and since it was almost 7pm, he was preparing for his screenwriting workshop. So all I got to tell him was thank u, and ask him how the new instructors and volunteers were for the Afterschool program. After which, he said he was sorry but couldn't talk. He said to call him and come in another day. I sighed and knew it would be hard to catch him on a quiet day.

Confused? Let's Rewind

Fred Hudson was a playwright who guided a lot of writers and actors and helped founded the Frederick Douglass Creative Arts Center -- where I first met him doing my very first writing workshop. And later on he allowed me to volunteer with the afterschool program. Though I used to grumble when I would ask him grad school advice, I know he was right about my needing to go through with it (more schooling) if I really wanted to accomplish some of the things I had in mind for my life. Too bad I didn't get a chance to tell him I was finally applying.

Article on his passing