In Memory of Rhapsody

[dawn_felagund]

I am greatly sorrowed to let everyone know that Rhapsody has passed away from cancer. As one of our original members and a longtime moderator, Rhapsody shaped and influenced the SWG (and me as a person and as a leader of this group) in more ways than I can say.

Rhapsody was one of the most selfless people I have ever known. She would always step up to help wherever help was needed. She constantly sidelined her own projects and priorities to support the communities and groups of which she was a part. Not surprisingly, when the SWG began to grow and I put a call out for new moderators, Rhapsody was one who answered that call. She swiftly became my right hand on the group; in fact, for many years, if you emailed the mods for help, you usually got a reply from Rhapsody. She ran the challenges for many years and contributed to the newsletter. Popular events like the Season of Writing Dangerously were her idea. She was my first line of support with the site's tech and taught me so much over the years. If there was something I couldn't figure out, she was always the first person I emailed.

She was also one of the most compassionate people I've ever known. I used to joke with her that she was the "lucky" person--being such a good friend and my right hand on the group--who got my unvarnished view on everything when something went wrong. She was a shoulder to cry on and an ear available to listen, on so many occasions. But what always amazed and inspired me about her is that, while many friends will immediately take the part of the aggrieved friend and amplify their emotions, Rhapsody always viewed every situation with unwavering compassion. She'd listen and often offer a perspective that calmed and solved situations rather than making them worse. She gave everyone the benefit of the doubt, and by her example, I learned how to do better at this myself.

I used to tell Rhapsody that she was the Most Important Person in Fandom Who Nobody Knew. Oh, many people read and loved her stories, and many people knew her. But I don't know that most people knew how many groups and sites existed in part due to her tireless service to the Tolkien fandom. There were the hundreds of hours she devoted to the SWG. She comodded Quills and Ink, and worked as a tech mod on Many Paths to Tread and Naice a Nilme. She was an author liaison for the Middle-earth Fanfiction Awards and a driving force behind many of the Back to Middle-earth Month events. In her tireless compassion, she even reached out to Keith Mander in a spirit of collaboration to keep him accountable after his purchase of LotRFanfiction.com. I'm sure there are things she did that I no longer remember and things she did that I did not even know about, and she was just as deeply involved in her home community as she was her fandom community: her local library, kids' schools, and in advocacy for people on the autism spectrum. She hated recognition and often demurred from even receiving credit for her work. Yet her technical and leadership skills kept many fandom projects afloat, including in their most dire moments when the only other option seemed closure.

(In fact, I know she'd be annoyed with me for posting this now! :)

Rhapsody was diagnosed with late-stage cancer several months ago. In her typical fashion, as she returned to fandom to enjoy her friends for her final months, she requested that her diagnosis not be centered and that nothing special be done for her. And she did indeed participate for many months, writing again and sharing her deep knowledge of Tolkien and cheering on friends both old and new in their creative endeavors--ever the woman I admired and friend I loved.

So I hope she can forgive me now for sharing more widely all that she has done and who she was: to me as a person, to the SWG, to the Tolkien fandom. We have lost an incredible person in our community, someone whose presence inspired beauty and kindness and care for one another. Rhapsody, we remember you with deep love and gratitude for all that you did and all that you were.

“And the ship went out into the High Sea and passed into the West, until at last on a night of rain Frodo smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that came over the water. And then it seemed to him that as in his dream in the house of Bombadil, the grey rain-curtain turned all to silver glass and was rolled back, and he beheld white shores and beyond them a far green country under a swift sunrise.”
~J.R.R. Tolkien, Return of the King

Comments

[makamu]

May she be remembered...

[grundyscribbling]

She will be missed, and remembered fondly.
*raises glass*

[hhimring]

Rhapsody was wonderful. I admired her courage and dedication so much.
It is a great loss.

[independence1776]

I am heartbroken to hear this. She was a wonderful woman.

[heartofoshun]

Thanks, Dawn. I need a moment to absorb this. She was dear and treasured friend. I was so happy that she decided to share her last months with us. It was a honor and a solace to me to have her around the fandom at the end.

[narya_flame]

Thank you for letting us know, Dawn; my thoughts are with her friends and family. She was wonderful and will be deeply, deeply missed.

[chestnut_pod]

Her memory for a blessing, and my thoughts with her family and friends.

[shirebound]

Thank you for your beautiful tribute, Dawn. I didn't know Rhapsody, but the loss of someone so special and beloved diminishes us all.

[la_samtyr]

I am so sorry to hear this. My deepest sympathy to all. :'(

[linaewen]

Thank you for sharing this sad news, as well as this lovely tribute to a worthy person!

[kaja_lakoka]

Thank you, Dawn, for writing this. I know she would be like, nah, I'm none of these things, but we know better.

My heart is broken.

[zdenka]

Oh no, I'm so sorry to hear it. Her memory for a blessing.

[lindahoyland]

I'm so sorry to hear this very sad news. Rhapsody will be much missed.

[spiced_wine]

Bless you, Rhapsody and may you continue to shine brightly 🙏🏼

[erulissedances]

I'm so saddened to hear this. She was a rock in the seas, someone who always listened and who helped whenever she could.

- Erulisse (one L)

[ysilme]

Thank you for sharing this, Dawn. She will be deeply missed.

[angelica_ramses]

Sad, and painful, so young and with such young children. Her memory will remain with us.

[mithrial]

What a lovely person and obviously a good friend to you. You've written a lovely tribute here.
How wonderful that she did so much for the Tolkien, 'online world' and fandom.

Such sad loss.

XX

[jenni_blog]

I'm crying right now. I've only just found out that Rhaps passed because I've been absent from here for so long. But lately I've been thinking about her and wondered how she was doing. How sad that this would happen to her. She was a lovely person and will be terribly missed.