The Most Committed Student I Ever Had Inspired This Fundraiser

Second update: Once we got the Paypal button working, we raised the money for Kathy to take the class in Bill’s honor in just over two hours. I have taken the donation button down. Thank you so much, everyone. Kathy is thrilled and ready to work!

Update: Because classes begin a week from Wednesday and students need to do introductory work to participate, please make your donation by Wednesday, August 29th by midnight. Thank you for giving. It all comes back around.

One of my students recently passed away. I heard from his wife yesterday in response to one of the recent class announcements I’d sent out,

Bill loved your courses and books.  He would still be involved I am sure, but he lost his battle with cancer on July 12.  I will unsubscribe him but wanted you to know why.  Thanks for the encouragement you gave, he always appreciated you.

I am stunned. Apparently I held the belief that my students are immortal. Even as I type those absurd words, a part of me wants to insist that they are true. My students really should be immortal. I would prefer that to this.

So imagine my shock when the first former student death I have heard of in eleven years of teaching was the passing of one of the most committed students. Bill shocked me the first time last spring when he joined one of my Discover Your Specialty & Launch Your Platform Classes and just crushed it. I have been fortunate to have a lot of committed and hardworking students over the years, but Bill just came along and showed us all how it’s done.

Week after week, I would read his assignments with my mouth hanging open. His willingness to dive deep into his past professional life and dig, dig, dig until he came back up with gems that he described in tight, descriptive prose was remarkable. Bill had already done a lot in the world when he came to my class, but he was ready to reinvent himself after retirement and he went after his platform development with a gusto that taught the teacher a thing or two along the way.

I pulled up some of Bill’s old work, because I keep all of my student’s old work. Even though I don’t have the greatest memory in the world for say, remembering names in person or recalling pop trivia, I will often remember things my students wrote for many years after their classes have ended.

Two weeks before the class ended, Bill was diagnosed with cancer. He didn’t say anything until after the class, he just continued to crush his work all the way through, never missing a beat. Bill told me about the diagnosis when he turned in his class feedback form. There was no doubt in my mind that Bill was going to beat the cancer the same way he had crushed my class. Maybe I even foolishly thought that his new-found commitment to his platform was going to assist him in squelching the cancer, so he could get joyfully and productively back to work.

And now, just a little over a year later, Bill is gone.

I am somewhat comforted by reading Bill’s obituary, which provides a fuller picture of his life than the one I had gotten in class. And yet, it seems that how Bill did anything was how Bill did everything. He exuded a calm joy and level of commitment that are rare for fickle humans. I feel very fortunate that I got to meet Bill. I only ever met him and worked with him over e-mail, but I totally got Bill, and he totally got me. Communicating that essence of who you are and what you offer is central to what I do in the world. In a sense, Bill showed me how powerful and effective my work could be by doing it more thoroughly than it had been done before.

In Bill’s honor, I have decided to start a special kind of scholarship…

The Bill Hay Scholarship is a fundraiser for a student who wishes to take one of my advanced classes, who would not otherwise be able to take the class for financial reasons. Unlike my Writer Mama Scholarship, this fundraiser scholarship is not going to be a regular thing. I will reserve this fundraiser scholarship for unusual circumstances as I see fit.

This first fundraiser for the Bill Hay Scholarship is to support Kathy Dubin Flynn in her desire to micro-publish an e-book that will share her story as the recipient of a bone marrow transplant. Kathy knows that she will not receive any special treatment in the class and that she will be expected to give the class her very best effort, just as Bill did.

If you would like to see Kathy Dubin Flynn receive the first Bill Hay Scholarship for Micro-publishing for Mom Writers, you can make a donation of any size by clicking on the Paypal button below. Just insert how much you’d like to give and hit “Donate Now.” I will pay the Paypal fees on these non-tax deductible donations. When we get to $299.00, I will take the button down and let you all know.

[The paypal button has been removed because we have raised the $300 for Kathy to take the class. Thank you to everyone who donated. You will receive an e-mail confirmation.]

For my part, I feel like I have come to terms with the reality that taking my classes will not save anyone’s life. But I am more keenly aware, because of Bill’s passing, that taking my classes can have positive results in the world in ways I would not have imagined.

So, goodbye, Bill. Thank you for sharing your passions with me. I heard you and I’m passing it on. Rest in peace.