Missing Amanda…

I know I’m in the middle of a SXSW wrap-up but this can’t wait…

I just got a note that Amanda Davis, author of Circling the Drain and the new book Wonder When You’ll Miss Me, was killed along with her parents when her father’s plane crashed in the mountains outside Ashville, North Carolina. Amanda had been in Ashville at a reading for her new novel and her parents, who lived in the area, had come to visit.

Amanda was a professor at Mills College in Oakland where I had met her a few weeks ago. We both were featured speakers at the colleges MFA career day. I introduced myself because I could have sworn I had met her before. It turns out we had several friends in common as the literary world in the Bay Area is very small. We exchanged cards and said we should have coffee sometime. I mentioned I was looking forward to reading her book.

How horrible this news is.

• Category: Friends & Family