On the evening of Wednesday, 29 August 2012, over two dozen members of the science fiction community—her “family”—gathered for a memorial for Josepha Sherman held at the SoHo Gallery for Digital Art in Manhattan. Sherman, author, folklorist, editor and anthologist, died on 23 August from neurological disorders. (Obituary here.) She was buried on Monday, 27 August in East Haven, Connecticut.
Described as “an informal gathering to share our memories and celebrate Jo’s life,” the event was organized by the Gallery’s Kim Kindya and John Ordover, along with Alexandra Honigsberg. Displayed on computer wallscreens around the room were photos of Josepha and covers of books that she authored, co-authored or edited, including The Shining Falcon (recipient of the Compton Crook Award), Vulcan’s Forge (and sequels), Urban Nightmares, Once Upon a Galaxy, and Greasy Grimy Gopher Guts: The Subversive Folklore of Childhood.
After salutatory remarks by Ordover, SGDA Proprietor, former editor of Pocket Books’ Star Trek line and longtime friend of Josepha’s (who cited a, er, memorable slushpile tidbit), Alexandra, author and widow of Rabbi David Honigsberg (who had been Jo’s rabbi), led a nondenominational service with some brief prayers, including Ecclesiastes 3:1-6, the 23rd Psalm (King James Version) and the Mourner’s Kaddish (in Hebrew and English), punctuated by a Klingon Qapla’! While not strictly religious, Sherman was deeply culturally interested in her heritage; among her books were A Sampler of Jewish-American Folklore and Rachel the Clever: And Other Jewish Folktales.
Among those who reminisced about Josepha were Keith DeCandido (her co-editor on Urban Nightmares, who also read a letter from Laura Anne Gilman), Kim Kindya, Amy Goldschlager, Glenn Hauman and Delia Sherman (no relation). Speakers recalled her sense of humor, her resoluteness (or stubbornness, even in the face of her illness), her wicked glee at writing a scene in the Highlander novel The Captive Soul in which Methos is naked, her love of show tunes, and her penchant for whinnying at odd moments (well, one of her novels was The Horse of Flame).
Too many of her friends and colleagues were unable to attend due to Worldcon (Chicon) and Dragon*Con. It is certain, though, that there will be tributes to Josepha Sherman at those conventions.
—30 August 2012