There will never be another Lorine Parks

DOWNEY – The last time I heard from Lorine Parks was Jan. 24 when she replied to my email asking if everything was alright.

She hadn’t submitted a poem yet for that week’s Downey Patriot, wildly out of character for Lorine. She curated the Poet’s Corner, this newspaper’s longstanding poetry feature, and submitted her selected poem every Sunday night.

Sometimes the poems were from talented but obscure writers, other times from famous playwrights. Sometimes, but not often, they were written by Lorine herself.

“Sorry about poetry,” Lorine wrote in her email. “I got distracted because, yes, a little under the weather, but am feeling better. I’ll have a good one for next week.”

Lorine sounded confident about her ability to overcome her undisclosed illness but God had other plans. She was hospitalized the next day and never returned home. She died Monday at age 92.

Lorine’s death leaves a community in mourning, especially within the arts and culture circles.

At this newspaper, the loss is immense. In addition to curating the Poet’s Corner, she was our unofficial society editor, reporting on local civic events and writing about them in her unique style so popular with readers.

Lorine’s stories were poetry itself. She strung words and sentences together that flowed gracefully. She found beauty in places most would overlook.

Here’s what she wrote after visiting Downey’s 2023 Rose Parade float, which carried a bee theme:

“Miss Downey Sarah Sarofeem and her court were there, but minus crowns and gowns. Sitting amid the flowers and dressed in jeans and warm checked flannel shirts, they represented the all-important beekeepers. As contestants, these young women also won scholarships, showing the contest’s emphasis is on nurturing their potential and usefulness to the community - just like the bees.”

Correlating bees and Miss Downey contestants showed Lorine’s brilliant way of thinking. She was 91 when she wrote that.

Lorine attended casino nights, award ceremonies, art receptions, poetry readings, luncheons, breakfasts, ribbon cuttings, and everything in between. She was a regular at Downey Symphony concerts, writing about the art, music and fashion. Lorine worked hard to elevate Downey’s cultural standing. The Downey Symphonic Society voted Lorine its Volunteer of the Year in 2023.

If you’re a poetry fan, you can thank Lorine for the Poet’s Corner. The column was created by the late editor John Adams and discontinued after his death. At the time, I was glad to see the Poet’s Corner go. It was bulky, took up valuable space within the newspaper and I questioned how many people read it.

Lorine, however, insisted that poetry was an added benefit of the Downey Patriot. Poetry is what differentiated us from the larger metro papers. And as a community newspaper, we should be a resource to the local creative community, she insisted. Lorine offered to curate the Poet’s Corner and so it returned.

It should be mentioned that Lorine did all this on a volunteer basis. She believed in community journalism. She relished the opportunity to write about her hometown.

As she grew older and driving became more difficult, Lorine refused to allow the world to pass her by. She opened an email account via AOL and signed up for Facebook. She even bought a digital camera and became a talented candid photographer.

Oh, how we will miss her.

There will never be another Lorine Parks.