Tonight I am mourning the death of Russell Sutherland, a good friend of mine since 2003, who died at his computer last night. Russell had struggled with many, many medical issues, and was in pain and bad shape, limiting the time he could physically work with his hands to create his origami art.
Russell had a lot against him, from poverty to lost nerves (thoracic), but always looked forward to a time where he could be an Artist-in-Residence, doing his origami and sharing the art with others. Russell was there for me in some very personal struggles, and I helped him when I could. His conflicts and struggles with others dwarfed mine, but his were much higher stakes, from fighting for basic finances and living conditions to struggling to retain his identity as an artist as others sometimes took credit for the work. This made Russ exceedingly upset, and, I fear, his outbursts reflected poorly on him to those who didn't understand the level of his pain and his convictions and how much he was a part of the work and relationships that he made. Regardless, over the past few years, Russell never hesitated to contact me to see how *I* was doing. In reviewing our conversations and logs, I see so many times where he was enduring severe pain and life stress, and yet still produced his art and listened. And despite my own complaining and middling issues, Russ followed my tiny struggles and always, always opened and closed our conversations with "remember that you can always call me to talk." I'll miss you, Russ - wish I'd picked up the phone more and pissed and moaned less.
