Please Help Jeffrey DeRego
I found out through Steve Eley’s Escape Pod that a fellow writer, Jeffrey DeRego, had emergency heart surgery on August 27 to bypass five blocked arteries.
Jeff and I had a spirited debate on the merits of self-publishing and a writer’s responsibility toward other writers on The Writing Show some time ago. We disagree with each other just enough that it was a fun, sometimes heated, very entertaining discussion. I respect him, and I admire his writing — his “Union Dues” series of short stories is yet another take on super-heroes in a real world setting, something I have some familiarity with, as you know.
Jeff’s family, like most families with writers in them, isn’t in a financial position to be able to take catastrophic, invasive, emergency medical procedures without a great deal of strain. Even with great insurance and a steady nine-to-five job, something like this can shatter the solvency of a family. So Steve Eley has set up a donation drive to help the DeRegos. I just dropped $25.00 to help — please consider helping the DeRegos with however much you can spare.
As a writer — and I know many of you are writers, musicians, artists, and other creative types — the thought that, suddenly and without warning, I might be denied the opportunity to finish all the things I want to write… that’s chilling. I’m probably never going to have children, so the idea of creative potential irrevocably denied is, in my mind, tantamount to miscarriage. Frankly, it causes me some stress.
Jeff’s close call serves as a reminder to keep working and creating, and build the kind of life that encourages creative work. Jeff’s going to be fine — he’ll be writing more Union Dues and other stuff. But what happened to him could happen to any of us, so I hope you’ll take a moment to do what you can to help him out.
Thanks.
