A lightweight digital camera allowed Kathy Tank to continue her nature photography even as the symptoms of her ALS progressed. Tank, an avid local gardener, writer and photographer, died in November. Her husband, David, is telling her story in a book called "River of Hope: My Journey with Kathy in Search of Healing from Lou Gehrig's Disease."

Garden writer, photographer left rich imprint on those she met Treating with freelance writers is one of the trials and triumphs of editing a magazine like our Home Front. We compensate our writers, but I often find they work more from passion than for payola.

That was certainly the case with my regular garden writer, Kathy Tank. In my years as editor we never personally met, but we communicated often by e-mail, discussing story possibilities, photo opportunities, schedules and the like. Her e-mails about our projects were filled with little asides that made me look forward to receiving them.

This is from a message when we were discussing story ideas:

"My garden is full of butterflies. Every day it seems I spot a new one. I had caterpillars gobbling up my cone flowers and rudbeckia, but I toughed it out and let them chow down to their heart's content. I like to think I am being rewarded now."

Or this note from when she turned in an assignment:

"You should know that it's all your fault that I now am in the process of starting vegetables from seed and David is trying to set up a light system for me. All that research on the last story was just too tempting not to try. Have a dandy day! Kathy."

On Nov. 11, 2007, we published a Home Front that included a story Kathy had written about garden books. She began:

"As daylight wanes and the gardens are put away for this growing season, I look to the library for inspiration. Recently I have noticed a lot of books and articles about organic growing so I thought I'd share some of those resources with you along with a couple others just for fun."

A book about hope

Kathy died three days after that story was published. She had been diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) in the spring of 2006. I didn't know that. Kathy was very private about the disease.

Her husband, David, is now telling her story, writing a book called "River of Hope: My Journey with Kathy in Search of Healing from Lou Gehrig's Disease."

I visited with David Tuesday at their home. I'd never been there before, but I recognized some of the landscaping - the neat compost piles, picket border fence - from photos Kathy had used to illustrate her stories.

We talked some about the book. He showed me a draft of the jacket cover. It read: "This story of Kathy's determination to beat a disease the 'experts' told her was unbeatable is both inspiring and tragic, hopeful and heartbreaking."

Kathy called ALS "this monster within me." Even as she lost the ability to speak, to swallow, to move about with confidence, she and David explored with energy the possibilities of a cure. Early on they rejected the modern medical model, which they thought did more to measure her dying than promote her living. They turned to a more holistic view of purifying her body of toxins.

They targeted "pesticides, contaminated food, pharmaceutical drugs, the environment and, especially, mercury from dental fillings," David wrote.

"It made sense. ALS is all about damaged and destroyed nerve cells. Get rid of the reasons the cells are being destroyed and you've got a shot at recovery."

The book recounts their efforts and their frustrations, their progress and their slips. It is also a story of bravery and of love.

Writing the book, David told me, was an act of healing, a tribute to his wife and a message of hope for others.

A woman who cared

David also made it clear that Kathy was much more than her disease. She was an energetic, health-conscience person who biked, canoed and kayaked. Even before she fell ill she was careful about what she ate and was able to convince David "to quit eating Little Debbies."

She was a creative quilter and sewer and an expert bird watcher.

And, of course, a passionate gardener. For several years she ran a gardening maintenance business called The Garden Tender, and as David explained the evolution of that business you get another glimpse of Kathy the person.

The business plan called for Kathy to tend people's gardens while they vacationed. But she soon found herself collecting "gardening buddies," in particular older people who were having trouble maintaining their gardens alone.

"They would work together, side-by-side if they could, or they might just sit on the porch and watch while she'd work," David said. "They loved their gardens, and she helped them keep them up.

"There was one older gentleman who had gone blind, and he could no longer see his garden. But he could feel it and smell it, so they found some high school kids, and Kathy trained them to take care of his garden.

"She really liked working with people and helping people. She was a very positive person."

Kathy's writing revealed that her love of nature was as dynamic and complex as nature itself, and she thrilled in its process. Her nature photography finds exquisite detail that most of us miss.

That's why David has put together a collection of her nature photographs that focus on the little things, the bugs and tiny frogs that prospered in the landscape she provided. It's one more way he can continue what Kathy did so well, helping others see the beauty she saw all around.

As an editor, I am going to miss her talent and enthusiasm for the story. As a community, we have lost much more.

Lyksett can be reached at 830-5926, 800-236-7077 or dan.lyksett@ecpc.com.




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