Amelia Beamer is a class act, and one of the main editors of LOCUS MAGAZINE. She lost her father-in-law to a sudden heart attack on August 13. Ellen Datlow’s blog has details, but in a nutshell, her father-in-law was a man of the people who worked on behalf of poverty-stricken communities. His family could use some financial help in the wake of funeral and cremation costs that his limited insurance couldn’t cover. The economy’s tough on everyone right now, but if you can pitch in a few dollars to help one of the good ones in our science fiction community, it would be appreciated.
(Photo of Amelia by Ellen Datlow)

LETTER FROM AMELIA’S FAMILY

Dear all,

It is with deep sadness that we inform you that Arthur Wayne Jokela has passed away. He was traveling home from his work in Malawi and Mozambique when he collapsed suddenly during a layover in London, and died of a heart attack in St. Thomas’s hospital on August 13, 2008. The body is being cremated and brought home to Los Angeles by friends.

In lieu of flowers or cards, we will be accepting donations to the Arthur Jokela Memorial Fund to cover funeral expenses and travel costs incurred by his environmental and civic outreach projects in Africa and around the world. There is a Paypal account set up to receive donations of any size, with a web page at the link below. You don’t need a Paypal account; there is a link on the left side of the page to continue with a credit card. http://tinyurl.com/6jp3bm

Memorial services will be announced within the next few months, most likely to occur in early November to commemorate Arthur’s birthday on November 5th. You can keep in touch via the new email address: arthur.jokela.memorial.fund@gmail.com, or my email address: karentayu@yahoo.com.

Sincerely,
Karen Jokela and family
1801 West Orange Grove
Pomona CA 91768
phone: 909.620.6288