R.I.P. Amanda Davis
We'll miss you NOW.

Amanda as Lucretia Brimstone, Bindlestiff Family Cirkus Tour 1999



Amanda Davis, a 32 year old writer that I knew, died approximately one month ago. Her parents were flying her to a book-reading in North Carolina, where she grew up, when their Cessna crashed into a mountain. (I just found out today.)


I toured with Amanda with the Bindlestiff Family Cirkus in 1999. It was the first time I'd been on tour with them, and the first time she'd been on tour with them, so we were both newcomers to the family. She ran the Autonomedia Bookmobile and sold the merch, while I did my flea circus. We weren't particularly close, but grew to respect and like one another.

One night, the way the accomodations worked out, we shared a hotel room in ...(Indiana?) (double beds, naturally) We spent hours talking late at night about publishing, books, bookstores (I had run a bookstore for three years), artistic aspirations, clowning, self-promotion, family, scrabble, the nature of art, cell phone reception, and about a dozen other things.

I left the tour in Chicago, and lost touch with Amanda, but never lost my thoughts of that night with her, and our conversation

I heard about her/from her again last year sometime, when I'd sent an email to a friend of mine who is a publicist at Morrow, and turned out that she was Amanda's publicist for the new novel, and she was in the office when she happened to get the email. Just a quick hello, but that was enough to bring her back in mind to me.

I got a copy of the galleys and read them, and admired her book (which draws on our Bindlestiff tour very much) The book, titled Wonder When You'll Miss Me is available at Amazon.com

My sister-in-law just told me about her death .... I was shocked and dismayed. Although we weren't particularly close, I feel it quite clearly; the world is a less fortuitous place without her. I'll miss her more now that she's gone.


You can read more remembrances of Amanda at McSweeney's



Read a story by Amanda titled: "Fat Ladies Floated in the Sky Like Balloons"

Read another story titled: "Louisiana Loses Its Cricket Hum"

Here is an audio version of "Faith, or Tips for the Successful Young Lady" hosted at Salon.com