Tribute to Jean C. Lee

Jean Lee was an amazing artist, writer, editor, and human being. I first met her when I was a student at Knox College and she was the technical advisor for Catch, the student literary magazine. She taught me most everything I know about editing and design. Later, after I had worked in Chicago for a couple of years and was returning to reality after an extended European trip one summer and fall, Jean and Robin Metz took me in. Jean offered me a job typesetting the mammoth Siwasher/Catch Alumni Edition and helping with typesetting and layout of Farmer’s Market, a regional literary magazine that had developed quite a reputation after she took it over. That is when I became acquainted with Jean’s graphic arts work on the covers. The series was to extend through the alphabet, though unfortunately I never collected more than the ones I’ve posted here as a tribute to her life and creative genius. I would love to see more of those covers, if anyone has them. I’m not positive whether she was able to complete the series of linoleum block prints before circumstances caused her to give up the magazine and leave Galesburg. I regret that I didn’t maintain contact with Jean in recent years. She was a wonderful person and a gifted artist. Our world is poorer for her passing.