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Karen Ewing As I was updating the page in June 2001, I ran across this letter I wrote to the Cougar after reading about the death of Karen Ewing. Portions of it appeared in the Nov. 19, 1961, issue: To the students of VHS: Most of you probably were not too affected Saturday (Oct. 28) by the news of the tragic death of Karen Ewing, a former Cougar editor, for you had not had the good fortunate of working with her. I was more fortunate, however, and can tell you that you can be proud to attend the school that produced this young woman, who, although active in everything, was never too busy to be a friend. True, Karen had a brilliance beyond her years -- as evidenced by the record she set in the amount of money won in the George H. Wilson Creative Writing Contest in her senior year -- but this brilliance never overshadowed her personality. I knew Karen as an editor -- driving, as an editor must be; disgusted at times, but seldom saying so; and talented, not only with a typewriter, but with a camera. She could, it seemed, always do whatever had to be done, and because of this seemingly endless reservoir of talent some of us on her staff took advantage of her at times. But even so, in the two years we worked together, as green cubs and as an award-winning staff, I don't remember Karen ever losing her temper or exploding into a rage, easy things to do under the pressure of constant deadlines. She put the lie to the old saying, "If you can keep your head when all those around you are losing theirs, you just don't understand the situation." Karen did understand. And she did keep her head. Her sense of humor no doubt helped prevent the temper flares one might have expected. Typical of this was the "Panic Button" she installed in the COUGAR office, an item which still decorated staff quarters on my last visit. Mrs. Betty Whiteman, who gave the two of us our start in journalism, called Karen her "most promising students," high praise from a woman who always demanded top work from her staffs. Karen, though, could fill the shoes. Her classmates agreed with Mrs. Whiteman's evaluation of Karen, for they chose her as girl most likely to succeed -- a prediction she never had a chance to prove. As I noted, Karen was a friend, a good friend, too all those on her staff. That's how we'll remember her. Those of you who didn't know her can only think of her as a girl who contributed much to her school and who would have contributed much to her country if she had only had more time. John Weigle