The world of clay on Wednesday

Well, it's been many Wednesdays since I last posted. This fall season has been very busy here and I figured people would rather get their orders than read my ramblings. Somehow, I seem to be caught up at the moment, so I thought I'd post something.
Today marks the one week anniversary of Lou's last day. (He is majoring in Mechanical Engineering at KU and his class schedule would not allow him to continue working here) Lou was our shipping clerk for 2 years, 2 months and 2 days. (Pretty cute, huh? Totally unplanned even!) Over that time, I came to rely heavily on him. So far, I've been getting by ok. We hired Jeanette to take over and she's coming right along and doing quite well. BUT, I thought Lou needed to be honored here in my world of clay because he will always be a part of my world and the Bracker Family. Lou's last name is McKown. Note that his initials are LM. So, in his honor, all AMACO LM glazes will be on sale from now until I remember to take them off sale. (That could be awhile - Lou would have been the one to remind me to do that. *grin*) Lou, if you're reading this, we sure do miss you, but we wish you all the best!!!

The world of clay on Wednesday

OK, to get the rhyme on that to work, you have to say Wednesday the way a kid trying to spell it says it. But, Anne already took the cool friday five thing. I thought about doing a Saturday Six, but there's just no way I can commit myself to blogging about 6 different things every Saturday. So here we go. It may not happen EVERY Wednesday, in fact it might not even be a Wednesday at all when I get around to posting something on this blog. But Anne asked me to have some sort of "column" so here we go. Today, I'm writing about books, Inexpensive books, to be exact. I found some really good deals on some really great books:
Functional Pottery by Robin Hopper, retail price $44.95, special: $15.00
Ceramic Form by Peter Lane, retail price $45.00, special: $20.00
Raku by Tim Andrews (Now out of print), retail price $34.99, special: $25.00
Extruded Ceramics by Diana Pancioli, retail price $27.95, special: $15.00
Clays & Glazes in Studio Ceramics, by David Scott, retail price $50.00, special: $30.00

Jared Branfman

Jared Branfman, 23 years old, a promising young potter, died at 12:15am Tuesday, September 27th. Jared had been battling cancer heroically for 2 years. This link will take you to my personal website where details of his struggle are written. Jared's father, Steve Branfman, is the owner of The Potter's Shop and school in Massachusetts, as well as the author of "Raku: A Practical Approach" and "Potter's Professional Handbook". Steve was Bracker's very first workshop presenter in March 2002. He brought Jared with him to that workshop. He was such a delightful young man and was himself very talented in clay. Jared was pursuing his BFA in Ceramics at Alfred University when he was first diagnosed in June 2003. Alfred conferred the degree upon him several weeks ago at his home. He certainly was becoming an emerging talent in the ceramic world. It is truly a shame to see such a promising career ended so abruptly. The Branfmans are a Jewish family and although I don't know what the Jewish beliefs are about afterlife, I can'thelp but think of Jared as being in a place of no more pain and suffering, a place where he can work with clay and go cycling and do all the other things that he loves. It comforts me to think of him that way. Yet at the same time, I am overcome by grief and sympathy for dear Steve, Ellen (Jared's mother), and Adam (Jared's younger brother). I continue to pray for them and for their strength throughout the difficult mourning process. I would encourage anyone with a story or fond memory of Jared to post it here. When the time is right, I will collect all the comments and send them to Steve, Ellen & Adam.