To My Creative Angel: Judi Ann Mason

(Judi Ann Mason)

I woke up Friday morning with a message I was both shocked and completely saddened to hear. My short-time friend and mentor, JUDI ANN MASON had passed away.


All I could think was: WHAT? Not again .... I'd barely recovered from loss of a great musical icon (MJ) ... and now this??? ... a loss that hit MUCH closer to home. I was speechless.


I'd just spoken with Ms. Mason on Tuesday, via Facebook, as we commented on Michael Jackson's memorial and traded words about the state of Black entertainment.


She decided that very day to make it her mission to bring Black entertainment back to what it used to be (which is FAR from what we see on BET). I enlisted in the army she was building to start her new rebellion ... and now our General is gone. And I'm truly hurting right now.



***


I met Ms. J.A. (as I called her) last year at the Southern Black Theatre Arts Festival (hosted by the Mahogany Ensemble Theatre and partly chaired by her). She was a speaker on a panel of theatre veterans, discussing the role and state of Black theatre.


I'd seen her name on reruns of Good Times and other tv shows. But I best remember her name in the opening credits of one of my favorite movies -- Sister Act 2.



I told her, at the panel discussion, that the words she wrote for that movie changed my life. I told her that I've always been a writer and that I honestly knew nothing else. I wake every morning ready to write. And I knew that was not just want I WANTED to be ... it was what I was SUPPOSED to be.


She gave an emotional testimony about how her mentors at GSU (where she went to school) were the reason she was so successful in the industry ... and she encouraged all the vets to reach out to writers like me.

Then she led them ... by example.


After the panel was over, she handed me her business card .... with her home, cell and office numbers, as well as her personal e-mail address.

She hugged me ... and told me ALL-WRITE NOW!


That was the jist of our informal meeting ... and over a month later I finally contacted her ... not quite knowing what to say.


I stumbled through that first e-mail and her response made me so comfortable that I started e-mailing her even more; even added her on Facebook and exchanged messages there ... And she would often comment on my statuses and send me words of encouragement, by way of hope and faith.


She even read this blog, offering me help in getting celebrity interviews and any other guidance or help I needed.



I'd known her less than a year. But Ms. Judi Ann became a friend to me. Someone who knew where I was and where I was trying to go ... and helped me every step of the way ... without asking nothing in return but that I continue my drive, my quest ... and keep HIM first. She was only in my life for a season ... but I believe it was definitely for a reason.


So to my newest angel in heaven .... Judi Ann Mason ... I'm already missing you. I will gladly help carry the baton from here on out. And my first book, will be dedicated to you ... for reigniting my passion for writing.


The tears may fall .... My heart may ache ... but my soul is at peace ... and I hope yours is too.


Rest in Peace Ms. J.A.



Your friend ...


Kristi