About the issue

In this last edition of the year, Illinois Times once again takes a loving look back at a few of the Springield-area characters who died during the past year. We say characters because each was unique, each had their own special spark, even four-year-old Joshua Lytle, who loved to sing “Frere Jacques” and who called his mom “Big Mama.” Included here are young and old, the prominent and the private; all were famous to their families and friends. While the causes of death vary – including murder, suicide, car crash and old age – all are missed and grieved. Yet while Springfield feels diminished by these deaths, this issue is intended as a celebration of remarkable lives lived well.

The selections are idiosyncratic. IT staff writers and contributors wrote the nine longer remembrances, while readers contributed the shorter essays. Read together they remind us once again of the contribution of each soul to the rich fabric of life in the capital city.

–Fletcher Farrar, editor