Category: Writing

A post celebrating the late author, poet and artist Clare Weiner, who wrote as Mari Howard

Last autumn, when I was planning my priorities for 2024, I decided that I’d post on my blog every Wednesday, and that the last Wednesday of each month would be a guest post by or about author friend. I never imagined that the first of these posts would be a tribute to author, poet and artist Clare Weiner, who published her books under the pen-name Mari Howard, following her untimely death from a sudden heart attack on 7th December 2023. The following post is an amalgam of tributes by our mutual friends within the writing community.

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I first met Clare about 10 years ago when I was manning an exhibition stand at a writers’ event in London for the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi) (affiliate link). Clare approached me and introduced herself, buttonholing me for some time as she described her work and also questioned me at length about how joining ALLi might help her achieve her writing ambitions. I was immediately struck by her intelligence and tenacity, and how thoroughly and deeply she thought things through.

She joined ALLi, and in the years that followed we became good friends, although the distance between our homes meant that we met in real life only occasionally. My first impressions held true, as I discovered when I read her debut novel, Baby Baby; her second, The Labyrinth Year; and then last autumn her third, Farewell Fifteen, which completed her planned trilogy, The Mullins Family Saga. In these contemporary family saga novels, she explored complex ethical issues where science meets faith with thoughtfulness and balance.

 

A determined independent publisher of her own books, she enjoyed networking with other indie authors and conversing about a wide range of issues with fellow ALLis.

ALLi’s founder, Orna Ross, says, “Clare always impressed me with her determination. I know the technicalities of self-publishing were not her natural bent, but she didn’t let that (or anything) stop her. It’s a shame she didn’t have longer to make her contribution, and I am so pleased to know her legacy will live on through her books.”

Clare’s considered contributions to group discussion on the ALLi membership forum were always appreciated.

“Clare was a valued member who contributed to our group,” says Helen Baggott, editor and author.

“Clare was always so supportive and active in this group,” says Clare Flynn, historical novelist.

As well as her intellect and integrity, her warmth stood out. “She was lovely,” says crimewriter Wendy H Jones.  “Clare was a lovely lady and wonderful writer,” says children’s author Hilary Hawkes.

Her generosity to her author friends was much appreciated. “A fine writer herself, she was also very supportive of other writers,” says Dr Carol Cooper, novelist and author of medical non-fiction.

Novelist Lynne Pardoe has fond memories of pre-pandemic real-life meetings with Clare in Oxford, when we co-ran an indie authors’ group. “I so much enjoyed knowing her, and it’s not that often you meet someone who shares the same faith and political views Clare and I did,” says Lynne. Along with other Oxfordshire authors such as Dan Holloway and Thomas Shepherd, we enjoyed some stimulating meetings in Oxford, including a memorable talk about lexicography by her husband Edmund, Deputy Editor of the Oxford English Dictionary.

Another author friend,  Griselda Hamway, who had known Clare and her family for many years through church, paid a touching tribute to Clare on her latest post on the Authors Electric blog, a collaborative site on which Griselda and Clare (and a few years ago, I too) each contributed a monthly post.

Read Clare’s last post on Authors Electric, an upbeat post celebrating the institution of the Art Shop, here:

https://authorselectric.blogspot.com/2023/11/the-art-shop.html

Read Griselda’s tribute here:

https://authorselectric.blogspot.com/2023/12/celebrating-human-spirit-sadness-and.html 

Although Howard Lovy, an author, editor and journalist based in Michigan USA, never met Clare in real life, he says, “I had the honor of interviewing Clare a few years ago for ALLi’s Inspirational Indie Authors podcast”. Howard kindly sent this link to their podcast as his tribute:

http://www.selfpublishingadvice.org/science-and-religion/

Clare was much more than an author and poet. She was also a gifted artist (view her gallery of paintings here) and photographer, sharing beautiful wildlife pictures all year round. “I loved her nature posts on Facebook too,” says author Ali Bacon.

But it was for her writing that I invited her to take part in the very first Hawkesbury Upton Literature Festival back in 2015, and she and her husband Edmund were great supporters of the programme long-term. Clare was a member of various discussion panels over the years and also gave readings from her novels and from her poetry. Here she is sharing a reading from her work at the inaugural HULF.

Because I believed in Clare’s talent, I was always pleased to help her, and I was especially glad to be able to introduce her to book designer and illustrator Rachel Lawston, who had done such a brilliant job designing my self-published book covers. They soon formed a close collaboration on new covers and branding for Clare’s work.

Rachel has given me permission to share her own highly entertaining tribute to Clare here:

Rachel Lawston’s Tribute to Clare

My most cherished memories of Clare will always be our “quick five-minute chats” that would turn into hours-long conversations.

Our calls were like a lavish twelve-course meal at a Michelin-starred restaurant. Here’s how they usually went:

• Course One – Hors D’Oeuvres: We would start with a quick chat about what we had been doing before the call (around fifteen minutes).
• Course Two – Amuse-Bouche: Moriarty (Rachel’s cat) rudely interrupts us. We would take a moment to appreciate cats.
• Course Three – Soup: Our cat updates would quickly turn into stories about nature sightings.
• Course Four – Appetizer: From there, we would talk about our trips to local nature reserves and share stories about our latest holidays.
• Course Five – Salad: Clare would update me on her grandchildren and her family.
• Course Six – Fish: Husband chat. By this point, we would lose track of time and have no idea how long the call had been going on.
• Course Seven – Paul (Rachel’s husband) would arrive home and say a quick hello. We would chat about what he and Edmund (Clare’s husband) were cooking for dinner.
• Course Eight – Palate Cleanser: Clare asks Paul about the WWT London Wetland Centre, Paul makes a swift exit to the kitchen and our discussion quickly turns to politics.
• Course Nine – Second Main Course: We would both express our dislike for Boris.
• Course Ten – Cheese Course: We would both express our disdain for the Tories.
• Course Eleven – Dessert: Our discussion naturally unfolds into the history of the UK and our predictions for the next year.
• Course Twelve – Mignardise: We would end our call with Clare sharing what she would do if she were the Prime Minister of the UK.

Taxi home – we are both summoned by our husbands to the dinner table.

HULF’s Tribute to Clare

I know how much Clare loved coming to the Hawkesbury Upton Literature Festival, and how disappointed she was when the pandemic or her own ill health prevented her attendance. The next HULF event is set for Saturday 27th April, and I would like to dedicate this event to Clare’s memory. It will be held in our beautiful, tranquil parish church of St Mary the Virgin, where I know she and Edmund enjoyed spending time on one of their visits to Hawkesbury.

The theme for the Spring 2024 HULF is “A Sense of Place” – something that Clare evoked so well in her writing, her photography and her art. (There’s a gallery of her photos of the settings in her books here.) Edmund has kindly given his permission for us to read an appropriate extract from her work, and he hopes to be present to read it himself.

Book HULF tickets via Eventbrite here:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/hawkesbury-upton-literature-festival-spring-event-a-sense-of-place-tickets-800093781037

If you would like to buy, read and review Clare’s books, her novels are available to order as ebooks and in paperback from Amazon.

All her books will also soon be available to order direct from her website here: https://www.marihowardauthorandpainter.co.uk/

Thank you, Clare, for all you have been to all of us. Our heartfelt condolences to Edmund and to all your family and friends.