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Anthea
Anthea Carson, co-founder of the CJS, died on 22nd September 2001.

1. The initial Announcement in the CJS
2. The Order of Service
3. The Thanks in the CJS.
4. Anthea's 1st Deathday
5. Anthea's 2nd Deathday
6. Anthea's 3rd Deathday
7. Anthea's 4th Deathday

1. This issue is dedicated to the memory of Anthea Carson, D. Phil.
Co-founder of the CJS, Anthea finally lost her brave fight against cancer on Saturday 22nd September, 2001

Alto-soprano, botanist, computer programmer, conservationist, ecologist, forester, gardener, glider pilot, hill walker, journalist, librarian, lifeguard, ornithologist, pharmacist, ranger, researcher, swimmer, university tutor, volunteer and zoologist - I am privileged to have shared 25 years of loving marriage with this remarkable woman.

Her achievements were many, including the CJS itself, but perhaps the most lasting will be the 5 acres of native woodland which we fenced and planted at Sleights some 20 years ago.

‘She lived lightly on the earth and died gently in my arms.
Now her spirit soars above the wood we planted.’

The CJS is Anthea’s gift to you. Your gift to her can be any donation (in cash or in kind) to any cancer charity or charity shop in your local area, or to Leukaemia Research Fund,
43 Great Ormond Street, London WC1N 3JJ
Tel: 020 7405 0101. Web: www.leukaemia-research.org.uk
Registered Charity 216032.
Thank-you. Niall Carson.
 

2. A Thanksgiving Service for the life of Anthea Carson, D. Phil. (1934 ~ 2001)

Woodlands Crematorium, Scarborough
Monday 1st October 2001, 11.20 a.m.

This Order of Service will help us to find our way through the short time that we have together. It includes some words which you may like to let flow through your hearts and minds as we remember Anthea and listen to some of her favourite music. If you would like to, please take it away with you in memory of Anthea – our companion and friend.

On Entering:

Enigma Variations, ‘Nimrod’. Edward Elgar.
(This was playing on the radio as Anthea passed away)

Welcome and Opening Prayer:

by Fr. Malcolm Lockey, Vicar of the Parishes of St. Margaret, Aislaby and St. Bartholomew, Ruswarp.

Reading.

Hymn: ‘All Things Bright and Beautiful’
(Simply because Anthea liked it)

All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful,
The Lord God made them all.

1. Each little flower that opens,
Each little bird that sings,
He made their glowing colours,
He made their tiny wings.
All things bright…

2. The purple headed mountain,
The river running by,
The sunset, and the morning
That brightens up the sky:
All things bright…

3. The tall trees in the greenwood,
The meadows where we play,
The rushes by the water
We gather every day:
All things bright…

Eulogy.

‘Wild Mountain Thyme’
Traditional arrangement, played by Tracey Barker:

'And we’ll all go together
To pull wild mountain thyme,
All across the blooming heather,
Will ye go lassie, go?'

Prayers:

Our Father who art in heaven...

Committal:

The Lark Ascending, Vaughan Williams (finale only).
(To remind us of summertime on the moortop)

A Celtic Blessing:

May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind be always on your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face, the rain fall soft upon your field
And until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of his hand.

As We Leave:

“Amen” chorus from Handel’s Messiah
(Anthea, an alto-soprano, sang in The Messiah at Leeds Civic Hall, just across the street from her ward in Leeds General Infirmary).


Anthea loved the Moorland
On leaving, please take a sprig of late summer heather as a keepsake.

A collect plate is provided for the Friends of the Leukaemia and Lymphoma Unit, Leeds General Infirmary, Leeds.

After the service you are welcome at Groves Bank, Woodlands Drive, Sleights for traditional Yorkshire / Irish hospitality and refreshments.


To My Lady of the Wood:

She lived lightly on the earth and died gently in my arms.
Now her spirit soars above the wood we planted.

High, high, high in the sky her branches reach up for the sun.
Down, down, down on the ground her roots hold fast to the earth.
High in the sky, down on the ground. Going before, staying behind.
Earth to earth, ashes to ash trees and leaves to leave. For ever.

Niall Carson


Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep:

Do not stand at my grave and weep; I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow. I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain. I am the gentle autumn rain.

When you awaken in the morning’s hush, I am the swift uplifting rush
of quiet birds in circled flight. I am the soft stars that shine at night.

Do not stand at my grave and cry; I am not there. I did not die.
Anon.

A Message:

If I should go before the rest of you,
break not a flower nor inscribe a stone;
nor when I’m gone speak in a Sunday voice,
but be the usual selves that I have known.
Weep if you must – parting is hell,
but life goes on, so sing as well…

And if my funeral day is clear and bright,
blue skies reflecting the peace to come for those travelling on,
go to the sea – an outgoing tide will take my ashes to the ocean floor,
among the sands where I still belong,
for the breath of God is within the shore.

Bury me without grief – I wasn’t perfect – you know that:
but I loved a lot and I’ll go on loving while my ashes become dust…

May be you could bury me on a stormy day,
alongside the shavings of that felled oak, so old and so huge:
I will lie there safely while my true self goes elsewhere:
and the rains and the snows that follow
will make mud for the swallow’s nest.
I might be the home of a swallow while I fly without wings
to my own home – your home – the HOME of us all

And when you’ve done today – over a cup of tea or a whisky glass,
Pray for me, as I shall be in prayer for you.
And remember to feed the dog…

After Joyce Grenfell

3. Anthea Carson

Thank-you to everyone who made donations or sent condolences.
We have been very moved by the response from friends and strangers alike, all united in grief. The Thanksgiving Service for her life was quite beautiful and the Order of Service is now on our website.

Special thanks are also due to Tracey, Kerryn and Amy who have not only kept the CJS going over the past few years, but have made it grow and improve. Their tribute to Anthea was to maintain our unbroken record and to carry on publishing as normal.
Anthea would have been very proud of them.

We will continue to develop the CJS, just as she would have wished.
Niall Carson.

You will find the Leukaemia Research Fund website via our Links page. You can also donate to them via the CJS.

4. Anthea's 1st Deathday (from 'CJS Weekly' on 23/9/02):

Sad Deathday to Anthea Carson, co-founder of the CJS

It is hard to believe that a year has passed without my beloved wife Anthea. We who have chosen our careers in natural history should know by now that death is a fact of life, and that each and every life is a journey from random birth to certain death. We should know better than most, that each and every life hangs by a single strand of spider silk and can be cut at any moment by oh so many timely and untimely causes. Even when we do know and do accept all these things, they will ease our sadness by just a little.

Anthea’s ashes are scattered in Groves Coppice, the 5 acre native woodland by the house, which we planted together in the early 1980s. This ‘field of small trees’ now feels like a proper wood and you can keep in touch with the woodland and its wildlife by visiting www.grovesdyke.co.uk and clicking on ‘The Wood’ and on ‘Wildlife Diary’.

Thank-you to all the CJS Subscribers who have raised over £200 for the Leukaemia Research Fund since Anthea died. If you would like to contribute too, please add just 15 pence (or more) to your next £18 subscription and the CJS will forward 100% of your donation to the charity indicated. Year by year the research into cancer, its causes and treatment inches forward. Month by month some progress is reported. In fact, more improvements in targeting chemotherapy were announced just last week…

Niall Carson, Editor CJS.

5. Anthea's 2nd Deathday (from CJS Weekly on 22/09/03):

Second Deathday

Two years ago this month Anthea Carson, my wife and co-founder of the CJS, died of leukaemia. Since then, readers of the CJS have donated over £460 to the Leukaemia Research Fund (LRF) where the Anthea Carson Memorial Fund has been created. I thank everyone who has contributed. The LRF has made significant progress over recent years, enabling their 400 scientists at leading hospitals and universities across the country to apply this knowledge every day of the year to save more lives. To everyone who has been bereaved, by any cause, I offer my condolences.    Niall Carson. (See countryside-jobs.com/other/anthea)

Do not stand at my grave and weep
Do not stand at my grave and weep. I am not there. I do not sleep. I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow. I am the sunlight on ripened grain. I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush, I am the swift uplifting rush of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night. Do not stand at my grave and cry, I am not there. I did not die.     Anon.

Donations to LRF (Charity No. 216032) can be made via the CJS [click on 'Shop' at the top of this page and then on 'Donations'], or directly by visiting www.lrf.org.uk

If you contribute directly to LRF please remember to mention 'Anthea Carson' to have your donation recorded in her memorial fund.

PS: Calendar Girls. Released two weeks ago, this movie is based on the true story of Rylstone Women's Institute in the Yorkshire Dales. Following the death of one member's husband, the ladies decided to raise money for Leukaemia treatment and research by publishing their famous nude calendar. Its phenomenal success raised enough money to refurbish the Leukaemia and Lymphoma Ward at Leeds General Infirmary, where he was treated and where Anthea and I, and thousands of others, very much appreciated the improvements. Congratulations ladies and Thank-you from us all.       Niall Carson. (NB: The Leukaemia Research Fund receives some of the royalties from the Calendar Girls film).

6.  Anthea's 3rd Deathday

Sad Deathday. It is 3 years since the death of Anthea Carson, co-founder of the CJS. Without her, the CJS would not exist. Since her death many of you have kindly added an extra 1 penny per week to your CJS subscription, for the Leukaemia Research Fund's 'Anthea Carson Memorial Fund'. We are always pleased to forward 100% of your donations, which have now raised a total of £670.19p for research into leukaemia and other blood cancers. 'Thank-you' to everyone who has contributed. If you find the CJS useful, you may wish to show your appreciation of Anthea's work by making your next CJS subscription payment for £18 and 15 pence, rather than just the bare £18. Thank-you. Niall Carson.

7. Anthea's 4th Deathday

CJS Co-founder Remembered

On the 4th annniversary of Anthea's death from acute myeloid leukaemia we publish this recent News Release from the Leukaemia Research Fund. As a botanist and a pharmacist my late wife would have appreciated the relevance of this advance in helping others to live. By adding 1p / week to your CJS Subscription we have been able to forward £940.10p to the Leukaemia Research Fund's Anthea Carson Memorial Fund. Thank-you to all who contribute. When you get a job you can also donate the value of your unused CJS Subscription. If you find the CJS useful please consider making a donation. Thank-you, Niall Carson, Editor.

More details: www.countryside-jobs.com/anthea/anthea.htm

Plant Power Holds Cancer Clues: Scientists, part funded by Leukaemia Research, are harnessing the power of plants in the hope of finding new treatments for leukaemia. Sap from a weed traditionally used for treating corns and warts contains chemicals that can control cell growth and death. Scientists at the University of Birmingham are now working on new drug models for fighting cancer and even arthritis, based on harnessing natural products from plants, algae and fungi as well as man made chemicals which mimic their actions. The plant is petty spurge (Euphorbia peplus), also known as milk weed, and is a common weed found in gardens. An extract of petty spurge has been tested against cancer cells taken from eight patients with acute myeloid leukaemia, a particularly aggressive cancer of bone marrow stem cells. In seven of the eight samples it killed between 56 and 95 per cent of the cancer cells. These results were even achieved using low concentrations of up to a hundredth of those that would damage healthy cells. A clinical trial with myeloid leukaemia patients will begin next year in Paris. The sap extract works by activating an enzyme called protein kinase C which triggers controlled cell suicide. In many cancers the basic problem is that cells either grow too quick, die too slowly, or both. With this in mind, when tackling cancer cells scientists are trying to find drugs that can turn these molecules on or off – to trigger cell suicide.
Professor Janet Lord, a protein kinase expert from the University of Birmingham is leading the research. "We have known for some time that we wanted to target protein kinases as a target for killing cancer cells, the problem has been finding something to do it," she says. "The chemicals that exist in nature are more complex than we could easily make, so using natural products is very exciting. Traditional use of plants or old-wives tales can point us in the direction of plants with medicinal potential." www.lrf.org.uk