Nikki Lee Atwell, October 12th, 1982 - October 8th, 2002
Nikki Lee Atwell, author of "Nolite Te Bastardes Corborundorum," "It All Started Somewhere" and numerous other zines, died this October 8th. She fell asleep at the wheel of her car at approximately 1:30pm on October 7th, and was thrown out of the vehicle and suffered severe heard injuries. She never regained consciousness, and doctors proclaimed her dead at 5:00pm on October 8th. She was four days away from her twentieth birthday.
I met Nikki through zines when I was 14. I originally wrote to her because I saw a review of her zine "Nolite Te Bastardes Corborundorum," and appreciated the reference to Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale," one of my favorite books. Nikki and I exchanged letters and mixed tapes, zines and comics -- she taped me songs she composed on her acoustic guitar and Bikini Kill bootlegs and I taped her out-of-print Allen Ginsberg songs and readings. She lived in rural Arkansas and I lived in the San Francisco Bay Area -- we compared notes about the differences between our homes, told anecdotes to each other about our lives. I liked her zines, her voice, and her sense of humor. However, we were never particularly close, and as many penpals/zinesters tend to, we lost touch after awhile.
I got a notice about Nikki's death in the mail today, along with an announcement from her parents that they are starting a memorial fund in Nikki's honor to help provide music, art, and dance education to kids in rural Arkansas. If anyone wants more information on the fund, please write to:
Freda Phillips (Nikki's mom)
415 Riverview North
Mountain View, Arkansas 72560
or email: Nikki@mvtel.net
If you want to donate money directly, send checks written to:
The Nikki Atwell Fund
Bank of Mountain View
PO Box 1228
Mountain View, Arkansas 72560
I am still in major shock that someone I knew from the zine community is gone.
I met Nikki through zines when I was 14. I originally wrote to her because I saw a review of her zine "Nolite Te Bastardes Corborundorum," and appreciated the reference to Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale," one of my favorite books. Nikki and I exchanged letters and mixed tapes, zines and comics -- she taped me songs she composed on her acoustic guitar and Bikini Kill bootlegs and I taped her out-of-print Allen Ginsberg songs and readings. She lived in rural Arkansas and I lived in the San Francisco Bay Area -- we compared notes about the differences between our homes, told anecdotes to each other about our lives. I liked her zines, her voice, and her sense of humor. However, we were never particularly close, and as many penpals/zinesters tend to, we lost touch after awhile.
I got a notice about Nikki's death in the mail today, along with an announcement from her parents that they are starting a memorial fund in Nikki's honor to help provide music, art, and dance education to kids in rural Arkansas. If anyone wants more information on the fund, please write to:
Freda Phillips (Nikki's mom)
415 Riverview North
Mountain View, Arkansas 72560
or email: Nikki@mvtel.net
If you want to donate money directly, send checks written to:
The Nikki Atwell Fund
Bank of Mountain View
PO Box 1228
Mountain View, Arkansas 72560
I am still in major shock that someone I knew from the zine community is gone.