In Memory Of Dr. Ruth and Jerry Starratt
I was heartbroken to hear about the passing of both Ruth and Jerry Starratt. In the past 21 years, Ruth have gone way past being my program supervisor at Boston University ... she and Jerry became a part of my life. I called her my travel mom as we began attending NAEA conference together, presenting and having fun. I fondly remember riding the waterslides outside the hotel in Miami in 2002 with Jerry. Jerry forever became known as "Waterslide Jerry" after that. Ruth was the one who encouraged me to apply for the Fulbright Program in Japan. That experience in 2005 changed the course of my artwork and caused me to look at everything differently. She worked with my student teachers the way she had worked with me and was one of the kindest and most generous people. I kept in touch with her throughout the years, sharing my travels with "travel mom" and "Waterslide Jerry". She would always reply to me as her "travel daughter". In 2015, when my h