Novelist Don Rearden shared the sad news that baby Seketl’e Jacobs has died.
The Alaskan author mounted an online auction last week to help the parents of this one-month old baby pay for medical bills in a battle with a rare liver disease. The auction winner will name a character in Rearden’s next novel, Moving Salmon Bay. You can write the author for more information on how to donate to a memorial fund for Seketl’e.
Here’s more from Rearden: “I will be dedicating the book to little Seketl’e, whose memorial services are this week. The winner is having me name the character after her daughter Panika (which literally means “my daughter” in Yupik — the character in the story is a little girl obsessed with story-knifing, an Eskimo tradition where girls use a knife to carve pictures and tell illustrated stories in smoothed mud pies).”
Rearden concluded: “Torin and Lena Jacobs are the parents of little Seketl’e. They are Yup’ik and Athabascan (respectively), just married a year ago. Both are dynamic young leaders in the Alaska Native community. Torin fought as a Marine for two tours in Iraq … The auction netted over $400 for Seketl’e Jacob’s fund, and helped raise awareness and brought in other donations to the fund from those who lost the auction or couldn’t keep up with the bidding.”