Ingrid Spies

I remember the first time I saw Julie. She had just one child, Peter, and shared that she was not sure what to do with her life after teaching at the community college. Julie had come to pick up my daughter for some babysitting.

It seemed to only a brief period of time when Julie was striding across the stage at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, dressed all in black, long black hair swinging, elegant, charismatic, funny, as she held an audience spellbound with her electric, and humorous, oratory, before introducing a world class author. Soon Portland was on the national map for being a very literary city.

Julie was one generous spirit. The anticipated birth of Alec was a source of great excitement in our family particularly for my daughter. As soon as we heard the baby was born, I drove my daughter, who was Peter's babysitter, to the hospital. I was concerned because I thought the visit was too soon after the birth. I will never forget the feeling of being overwhelmed when the tiny child was placed in my arms.

Julie could deliver impossible dreams, not only to the community, but also as a surprise on an individual level.
In the sixties, and seventies, my hero writer was John Fowles. Although later I realized his personal life probably didn't match the profoundly intellectual, even spiritual, depth of his writing, I was mesmerized by his books, particularly Magus and Daniel Martin. On some level, over dramatic fervor must have rubbed off. Imagine my surprise and nervous delight when Julie told me Fowles was coming to Portland and that I could meet him personally at a reception. It was not a brief meeting, but an opportunity to have a conversation of some depth. I had read so much of his work, I felt I knew him, but was still amazed by the more than invasive questions he asked. It was deeply touching to be given a gift brought to Julie- an ancient fossil from the cliffs of Lyme Regis as described in The French Lieutenant's Woman. Julie recounted taking Fowles into, I believe, the Gorge, to show him our tiny Calypso orchids which grow in the woods there and in which he was interested. Julie's attention to details, as she related to other people, showed her deep perception and sensitivity to each human profile.

She will be sorely missed.