It's been a year now since the wonderful and sorely missed Luke Bitmead died and since then not only have his family updated his website - www.lukebitmead.com - and plan to award the first bursary to a fledgling writer in 2008, they have also been generating some more newspaper coverage about Luke, his writing and his illness.
Luke's Mum, Elaine Hanson, and his sister, Tiffany Orton, are working tirelessly to raise the profile of mental health issues and to stop them being such a taboo subject. A photographer visited Elaine on Monday accompanied by a journalist to get an update on how the fund is going and the article was posted online yesterday at www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk (simply search for Luke Bitmead or click here.)
And finally, and most movingly, here is the email that Elaine sent out to all supporters of the Memorial Fund:
THE LUKE BITMEAD MEMORIAL FUND
First anniversary 27 October 2007
Luke's fund continues to grow. We thank you for being generous and compassionate enabling us to create something positive out of our tragedy. The untimely passing of our treasured Lukey B will leave us always with sadness in our hearts. It is inevitable. Along side our sorrow we will cherish and revere the memories we hold of Luke. The essence of Luke was fired with determination and tenacity to achieve his dream of being a published writer. How proud we his family were at the launch of WHITE SUMMER 2006. Little did we know he would not be with us for the launch of HEADING SOUTH in 2007.
It remains so hard to believe we will never sit round a table with him again sharing a meal that he would have helped create. Recounting stories of his days traveling, the people he met, the adventures he had. All told with wit and exuberance. He hid the depression he had struggled with for eight years. He did not want to be a burden to others. So it is with people who are victims of suicide.
Thomas Joiner the Bright-Burton Professor of Psychology at Florida State University who has dedicated his professional life to becoming an expert on suicide - for the past 16 years, as a scientist studying, researching and seeking answers as to why people destroy themselves. He is now one of the foremost authorities on the subject. "There is an idea that suicide is a mode of death that stands apart from others, but there are clear reasons why people die by suicide," says Joiner. "Just like heart disease, if you understand it, you can prevent it."
I have shared this with you because as well as presenting a bursary for fledgling writers we also want to support suicide research aimed at reducing the rising figures for death by suicide in this country. We have been privileged during this past year to hear from many families who have also been devastated by loss of a loved one in this tragic way. Luke's fund will seek to help eradicate the stigma attached to suicide. To speak openly about mental health issues allows the opportunity to support each other and learn which gives the possibility to begin to understand better. We know changes have already been made at the hospital where Luke died.
The Coroner's inquest will now not be until next year. So far, we have not spent any of the money that has been donated. We are at the building stage and we want to spend your money and Luke's royalties in the most productive way possible. In my work as a psychodynamic counselor I have a golden opportunity to discover how we can be most effective and powerful.
We hope you will continue to support Luke's fund in any way you can. His books will make great Christmas presents and reading some of the hilarious scenes out loud would add to the Christmas cheer!!! We have up-dated Luke's web site and will do this more frequently now. Please continue to send us messages, e-mails, phone calls what ever is easiest for you. Together we can achieve something amazing that we can all be proud of and we are enormously grateful to know you are with us on this special journey. Thank you from Luke's family.
Elaine Hanson
You can buy White Summer and Heading South from the Legend Press online shop and also from www.amazon.co.uk among other good online retailers. You can also find copies of both in many branches of Waterstone's and Borders and it can be ordered in store.
I'm a bit of a music fanatic. Can you be such a thing as a bit of a fanatic? When I read about Luke, I think about many people, the one who springs to mind immediately is Nick Drake, searching for some serendipity in his "Northern Sky". I also think of my brother who "died" when he was 34. I think they would have liked each other. Wherever they are, I hope they're doing fine. Best of wishes for you and yours
Posted by: David Smith | 04 September 2009 at 05:56 PM