Our hearts go out to many in our community today. Two bright young stars had their light extinguished in the past week. We along with the Sechelt Nation and many others on the Coast mourn their loss.
Just three days before the tragic accident that claimed the life of Summer August we received word that Zaccheus Jackson, the brilliant slam poet who had just closed the Sunshine Coast Writers Festival 10 days earlier, had died.
Summer according to all who knew her and respected her was an astounding young woman. Skilled at many different disciplines she was entering adulthood as an extraordinary artist and longstanding soccer star. A well-loved daughter, sister and friend she will be thoroughly missed.
Summer left this world in the company of friends. Like many young people she was probably enjoying the last weekend before returning to student life. We feel for her peers’ and family’s loss and hope they find comfort in the memory of all she accomplished in such a short life.
Jackson also had strong ties to the Sunshine Coast community of young people. He first made his talent known at the inaugural Aboriginal Storytelling Festival a couple of years ago. There he wowed the crowd with his words and his speaking style.
But the connection didn’t stop there. Jane Davidson, the producer of the Sunshine Coast Festival of the Written Arts, recognized what a gem Jackson was and just how deeply he connected with youth. Through her work with CABC (Celebration of Authors, Books and Community), an organization that exists to bring the joy of reading to new generations, Davidson brought Jackson back to the Coast. He went into the high schools on the Coast and did such a good job of entertaining the kids they forgot they were being educated. One boy thanked Jackson for getting the student out of English for three days. A bit of duping that had Jackson chortling in his inimitable way.
Jackson was a First Nations person from Alberta. His life had come off the rails early in his years. But a meeting in Vancouver with another slam poet, Brendan McLeod, who he performed with in Sechelt on August 17, changed Jackson’s trajectory. He uncovered a massive talent and a reason to live. Jackson fought his wolves valiantly.
An accident with a freight train in Toronto claimed his life but his spirit lives on in the many people moved by his big heart and his huge gift of words.
We don’t know if these two magnificent young people met on this earth; we hope they do in heaven.
