I posted the following announcement at Stories of Arda, and I'm copying it here for those who might not read there these days:

Word came just this morning that Dreamflower (Barbara) passed from this world on the 15th of March.

Recently, a reader emailed me about finding Dreamflower among my "author favorites page" recommendations, and really enjoying her stories, "especially her tale about 'Trotter', Bilbo's Uncle Hildifons."

I cut-and-pasted that paragraph out of that email into an email to Barbara. Not long after, she replied. She noted that she'd been having some health problems that had prevented her from writing. She also said, "But this has raised my spirits, to know my stories are still being read and appreciated is a real boost." She greatly appreciated every review that her readers left on her stories, and from the tone of her email, she was hoping to write more.

She wrote reams of fanfiction, much of it posted here at Stories of Arda, including many stories set in her own Eucatastrophe, a term Tolkien defined as "the true form of the fairy-tale, and its highest function" as part of his assertion that "all complete fairy-stories must have [a Happy Ending]". (See Tolkien Gateway's article for more.) Her vision of Middle-earth was ultimately hopeful.

She also wrote thoughtful essays that examined, explained, and built upon Tolkien's world-building, including such practical considerations as calendars and naming conventions. Many of her explorations proved quite helpful to other fanfic authors over the years. In addition to posting stories at various fanfic archives, she was active in a number of online fanfic communities. In addition, she helped create another Tolkien archive that, sadly, is no longer in existence.

Dreamflower was warm and generous with her time and ideas, in real life as well as in the realm of fanfic. Our "wee hobbits" are all grown up now, but when they were young, and she found out we were studying the Middle Ages together, she sent us a resource box packed full of information and ideas. Though I thanked her at the time, I wish I'd had the chance to tell her that she helped inspire their ongoing fascination with history: some are now working at Renaissance Faires for the sheer joy of it, and all are learning (and applying) handicrafts and crafting techniques from earlier times. They have also become tellers of stories in their own right.

Though we never met in person, we will all miss her greatly.

In closing, if you would, please pray for those she loved, and for all who loved her.

Barbara concluded all her emails to me as follows. I include her choice of words as a fitting remembrance of the Dreamflower I knew and loved.

Some people call it fanfiction. I call it story-internal literary criticism.

“The world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places; but still there is much that is fair,
and though in all lands love is now mingled with grief, it grows perhaps the greater.”
(J.R.R. Tolkien)

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