“Bovine Sue”

Sue Boulden, a widely-known activist for various causes, particularly for an inclusive Episcopal Church, died on March 27, 2007, on the eve of her 64th birthday. Without Sue, Progressive Episcopalians of Pittsburgh (PEP) would not exist. Her passion drove the group that became PEP. She was its informal leader until we introduced a modicum of organization, making Sue and me “co-conveners” for a time. (I never quite knew what that meant.)

Sue was never embarrassed to represent truth and justice as she saw it, even if that made everyone, including her friends, uncomfortable. Sue’s most recent project had been the resurrection of the long-dormant Pittsburgh chapter of Integrity.

I have written an elegy to Sue—I am beginning to find that I am writing too many of my poems to honor departed friends—that I have titled “Bovine Sue.” You can find the poem here, where I have also explained the somewhat unusual title.