A zine Helen made years ago

Here are some scans of a neat little zine Helen made years ago. The odd thing is, I haven't seen this zine in years, it was tucked away in a box of letters and photos and other zines. Just yesterday afternoon, maybe three hours before I got the terrible terrible news, I found it and thought "I should hold onto this." This, in an afternoon of tossing cards and letters from dear friends on the recycling pile. It just made me happy to hold it, and I thought that's reason enough to tuck it away with the very special creations and letters I am saving. It's hard to see in the scan, but that's a real film cell taped to the cover. It's of two people with cotton candy hair and beards. When I heard the news and stopped my initial outburst of tears, I thought of the zine and went to look at it again. The front cover says "hold up to a light" and so I did, and I couldn't help but smile when I saw the absurd image. That's Helen, gently forcing light and joy into your life even when you least expect it.

- Tara Wittchen