Out-Of-The-Loop Productions Presents:

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Good evening and welcome to the
Millennial Christmas Presention of

Red Slider's

The Ballad of Emma Good

- Plus The Added Attraction -

EMMA GOOD - THE MOVIE

(look for it at the end of each day's offering)

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PREFACE TO THE 2005 PRESENTATION - A DEDICATION TO ISOBEL, 1919-2005

Good evening. We are resuming the annual presentation of The Ballad of Emma Good after an interruption over the past two years due to pressing family concerns. My mother, Isobel, died this year after a long battle with Alzheimer's.

As you will see, bleak though it may be, The Ballad of Emma Good contains a very stubborn, if faint, note of optimism. This is entirely owing to Isobel's unshakable faith in the basic goodness of people despite the times in which we live and the severe trial through which our best natures are being sorely tested. Had it not been for her generous spirit of heart which never faltered, I am sure I would have grown up far too maladjusted and miserable to have written this work. Now, as then, Isobel is everpresent in my life and my thoughts.

In Memory
Isobel 1919-2005


Isobel died this afternoon. She was at ease and in no apparent discomfort or stress. The likely cause was pneumonia with symptoms that only appeared in the final few hours. Her remains have been donated to the UCD School of Medicine, as she wished. Her life continues, like a ripple in a pond, in the successes of the many children she taught to read and the people she touched throughout her life. A good soul that goes right on giving, for generations to come.

In death, the moonlight;
Closer than the empty bed,
An unlit doorway.


red slider
Thursday, January 13, 2005

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