coyotegoth | I'm kind of sad right now...

Reader's Digest version:

When I was a kid, I used to read these books called the Moomintroll books, about a happy, loving family of, well, Moomintrolls. They were amusing, and well- written (and well translated, since the author, Tove Jansson, was Finnish). In retrospect, though, it was probably the was the family was protrayed that really got to me: a warm, loving family who always looked out for each other. Young Moomintroll would forever be doing things like hiding under the Hobgoblin's hat, and Moominmamma and Pappa would forever be helping him. That really spoke to me. I even tried writing Tove Jansson c/o the American publisher of the books once, although my letter got returned, and I didn't follow up on it. So... a while back, I was futzing around on the Net, and someone's site happened to mention the beloved Moomintrolls of my youth. After a trip to the nearest B & N to refresh my memory, I decided to follow through on my youthful quest- I would write Tove Jansson. One Yahoo search later, I had the email address for the original Finnish publisher of the books; I promptly dropped a line, and forgot about it. A while later, I got back something along these lines...

Är på semester till den första augusti. Vi återkommer.
Olen lomalla palaan 1.8. Hyvää kesää.

Hälsningar

Elisabeth Jansson
Info/Tiedotus
Schildts Förlags Ab
Box 86, 02271 Esbo, Finland.
Tfn 09-88 70 40 20
Fax 09-804 32 57

so... um.. yeah. It seemed to be saying something about August first; so, I decided to shelve my little project until then. Then, this afternoon, I got this back (I believe the author is her daughter):

Dear (Coyote),
we are very sorry but she passed away in June this summer.
Best regards
Elisabeth Jansson
Schildts

So... yeah. Rest in peace, Ms. Jansson.