A Shadow Departs – In memory of Clarice Mortenson-Fowler

Categories Poetry1 Comment

This month, Bert Biscoe reads ‘A Shadow Departs’, a touching poem dedicated to the memory of Clarice Mortenson-Fowler who sadly passed away aged 97 on New Years eve 2013.

The daughter of the Captain of a Merchant Schooner, Clarice lived her entire life in Truro, where she became a well known and popular figure. She was a regular presence at local parades and fundraising events, raising more than £100,000 for various charities, including the NSPCC, RNLI and Marie Curie Cancer Care. Clarice was recognised as an Honorary Citizen of the City of Truro in recognition of her public service.

 

 

It is our privilege to honour this great lady, however, we don’t know a great deal about her personal story. If anyone has any stories or information that they would like to share, please leave a comment below. If we receive enough interest we could perhaps write an article celebrating her life.

If you enjoyed ‘A Shadow Departs’, you can read more of our Cornish themed poems here, and Bert’s last offering ‘Map Truro’ here. Join us next month for more in our poetry series.

Avatar
Vyager gans Geryow (Bert Biscoe) lives in Truro. He is a poet and songwriter whose work draws on his interests in history, politics, social justice and language. He represents the people of Boscawen Division on Cornwall Council. The Division was formerly called ‘Moresk’ – an unbroken link from civic administration to the hurried escape of Tristan and Iseult from the vengeful wrath of King Mark – Bert tries to invest Cornish values into the demand of modern life. His work is fun, and best read aloud – which he does whenever the opportunity arises, especially with fellow Cornish poet, Pol Hodge. ‘Living in Trurra’ he says ‘means that there is a constancy of running water beneath your feet – there are two clocks which ring the hours dissonantly and out of step – a good environment for poems to flourish in the cracks and shadows. Nowadays, the mullet listen attentively in the lee of the Old Bridge’.

1 thought on “A Shadow Departs – In memory of Clarice Mortenson-Fowler”

  1. I have a Christmas card signed by Clarice, she gave it to me at a fundraising event she also told me never to part with it

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.