Life, Loss, and Legacy!

A Person Is Not Dead While Their Name Is Still Spoken

By Ron Fortier, Co-Founder of The Artists Index

“Do you not know that a man is not dead while his name is still spoken?”
— Sir Terry Pratchett

I updated that timeless thought. But its sentiment lies at the heart of what we do at The Artists Index. For years, we’ve been documenting the lives and legacies of artists from the South Coast’s creative community—with one clear purpose: to include everyone. The historical. The contemporary. The celebrated and the overlooked.

How It All Began

My colleague Jeff Wotton and I co-founded The Artists Index around 2009 after a conversation about a newspaper clipping I had saved from The Standard-Times in 1989.

The ad, placed by Mary Jean Blasdale, then curator at the New Bedford Whaling Museum, asked the public for information about a comprehensive list of artists she had identified but knew little about.

Mary Jean’s dedication led her to publish the landmark book Artists of New Bedford: A Biographical Dictionary. Jeff looked at me and said, “Let’s design a website and pick up where she left off.”

Inspired by her work—and by my own desire to memorialize my mother’s career as a Fado singer during the 1950s and 60s—the project took shape.

The very first article I wrote was about her, Emilia Moraes. I feared that when I passed from this earth, the memory of her would vanish too. I often thought of the African proverb:

“You die twice. The first time is when you draw your last breath. The second is when the last person who spoke your name draws theirs.”

That idea became our guiding mission.

Building a Living Archive

From the start, Jeff and I envisioned The Artists Index as a community digital archive—a living record of the South Coast’s creative spirit. Jeff encouraged me to launch a podcast series for the site—a challenge I accepted somewhat reluctantly.

But since then, with the help of a dedicated team of grant-funded hosts, we’ve recorded nearly 300 episodes and published 221 episodes as of this date, featuring both contemporary artists and those remembered through the voices of their family and friends. It has been an honor and a privilege to give these stories a home.

When the Mission Became Personal

The importance of our work became strikingly clear during the COVID pandemic when a friend, Dan Logan (Podcast Episode 18), passed suddenly. Dan was a photographer and writer.

Not long after, the extraordinary goldsmith and silversmith Don Hoagland (Episode 10) also passed unexpectedly. We had plans to record a conversation about a mutual friend—another artist whose life and death were the stuff of legend.

Then, tragedy struck closer to home. Kevin José, known as DEMPT (Episode 14), one of the earliest employees of Jeff’s company, Spectrum Marketing Group, and an aspiring musician, was killed in a motorcycle accident. He had hoped to record music inspired by my abstract expressionist paintings.

These losses reminded us why The Artists Index exists—to ensure that memory does not fade.

Remembering Our Mentors

Over time, we’ve lost many mentors, friends, and peers—especially within the Swain School of Design and Southeastern Massachusetts University (SMU) communities.

SMU professors Thomas “Frank” McCoy, Willoughby “Bill” Elliott, Herb Cummings, Ed Togneri, Marc St. Pierre, and Sig Haines all left lasting marks on the region’s creative identity.

Each passing deepened our resolve to continue this work. When my mother passed just shy of her 98th birthday in July 2024, it reinforced my belief that memory is fragile—and worth preserving.

Documenting these stories keeps their names spoken, their legacies alive.

The Stories That Bind Us

Earlier this past month, the South Coast community lost Wanda Medina (Episode 15), a Swain BFA and Cranbrook MFA painter and printmaker. And today, as I write this, I’ve learned of another loss: Heidi Lewis, a neighbor and friend introduced to me by Chris Duval (Episode 219), who had returned to Fairhaven to care for her mother, Vivian Lewis, a talented graphic designer and Swain graduate who once worked for Jordan Marsh as a graphic designer and later became art director for the Bradlees Department Stores.

Because of the changes with Vivian’s health and the need for Heidi to get her to Philadelphia for care, I didn’t have the opportunity to record a podcast with her. I did, however, get to include Vivian’s story in an article I was asked to write for the South Coast Prime Times – Two Women. One Shared Passion, which also featured artist Catherine Carter. who had been on our podcast several times. Although I never recorded a podcast with Vivian, her story endures through that article—and now again, here.

Why We Do This

Every name remembered, every story shared, every voice recorded—these are acts of preservation. They ensure that the artists of the South Coast, whether visual, performing, literary, media, or culinary, are never forgotten.

Each story we tell keeps another artist’s legacy alive—and ensures that their name is still spoken.

We invite you to join us in this effort.

Do you have a story to share about a family member, friend, colleague, or acquaintance who was an artist? Does your organization have a creative legacy to document? Would you like to be a guest on The South Coast Artists Index Podcast, or recommend someone who should be?

We’d love to hear from you.

Our podcasts bring listeners closer to the artists, arts supporters, and cultural leaders who shape the South Coast. We record in the Spectrum Marketing Group studio and also connect via Zoom with guests near and far—including those who no longer live on the South Coast but remain part of its enduring creative legacy.

Together, we can ensure that their names—and their stories—are never forgotten.

About the Author

Ron Fortier is a writer, artist, and co-founder of The Artists Index and The South Coast Artists Index Podcast. Through writing, interviews, and collaboration, he is dedicated to documenting and preserving the creative legacies of the South Coast’s vibrant artistic community.