Friday, October 24, 2014

Barbara Summers: 1944-2014

It is with great sorrow that I report the death of yet another one of the many women whom I have featured here.  Barbara Summers, a black college instructor who became a top model and a trailblazer for black women in the modeling trade, and whom I featured here in January 2010, died at the age of 70.  She had returned to academia, having been a professor at Hostos Community College in the Bronx, and she was also a writer and editor whose work included a novel and a chronicling black women in modeling.  I don't know the cause of death, and I haven't found any details about it in the news.  But I did see a mention of her  passing in social media, and, not coincidentally, my post depicting pictures of Ms. Summers has gotten 162 views today alone.

I never knew or met Barbara Summers, but she actually discovered my post of her modeling photos on my blog, and left me the following comment:  "What a wonderful surprise to see this, Steve. Thank you!"  Needless to say, I was touched by her comment and her interest in my blog, and I replied that I hoped to find more pictures of her to post, but I never did find any more pictures of her to show here . . . much to my great regret.  I regret even more that I will not be posting any more pictures of her going forward even if I do find any, owing to my rule against showing deceased women here, though my original entry of Ms. Summers from January 2010, posted when she was very much alive, will remain.

I feel lousy right now . . . :-(  R.I.P.      

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