From the Austin-American Statesman for my friends who are not here with me (yet in my heart).
"Austin poet Shannon Leigh Lewis’ coma turns irreversible
By Michael Barnes | Tuesday, July 1, 2008, 01:13 PM
The coma that enveloped Shannon Leigh Lewis, one of Austin’s most honored spoken-word poets, turned irreversible Monday. She had entered the coma after a June 14 cave diving accident near Ginnie Springs, Fla.
Best known under her stage name, Shannon Leigh, she joined Austin’s hyperactive poetry scene at age 14.

“Certainly none of us knew she was 14,” said Slammaster Mike Henry about her first gig at Ego’s on South Congress Avenue, attended with her mother, Sheila Siobhan, an organizer of the Texas Youth Word Collective. “She was fantastic. Her writing and performance fit together as well as anyone else’s on stage.”
Lewis later won the Austin-wide Under 21 poetry slams in 2003 and 2004. Last year, during a sold-out National Poetry Slam show at the Paramount Theatre, Lewis took third place. She was featured on the HBO series, “Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry,” and represented Austin in the Under 21 Slam Team at the national Brave New Voices Youth Festival. She also had finished writing two novels and produced a hip-hop album titled “Sanctuary.”
“Her writing and performance style were an exact mirror of her as a person,” Henry said. “Absolutely fierce, fearless. Her work was incredibly lyrical, hip-hop infused and intensely personal. It was a shining example of what performance poetry can be.”
Lewis said one of her inspirations was the 1998 movie “Slam” about a rapper living in a gang-infested housing project. Her politically informed poetry was performed with unusual intensity. “It hits people much harder because it’s coming from me,” she told the American-Statesman in 2005, calling herself a “sheltered white girl.”
Lewis, 20, was born in Leeds, U.K. and attended St. Andrew’s High School in Austin before moving to Atlanta last year to attend Georgia State University.
Both her Austin-based parents are globe-spanning performers: Sheila Siobhan is an operatic soprano who co-founded the Austrian American Mozart Academy in Salzburg, Austria. She now teachers at Texas A&M-Kingsville. Her father, tenor William Lewis, also performs operatic roles worldwide, including at top opera houses, such as La Scala in Milan, Italy. He teaches at the University of Texas.
According to multiple reports, Lewis, an experienced diver, was swimming with two other divers, returning alone to the entrance of the cave because of an equilibrium problem. A diving instructor from another group discovered her unconscious. She was brought her to the surface with the help of another diver.
“Recreation diving and cave diving are apples and oranges,” said Dan Misiaszek, retired dive recovery commander with San Marcos Area Recovery Team. “Cave diving requires specialized training and equipment. Even with the proper training and equipment, things can still go wrong.”
Lewis had lingered in a coma for days. Monday morning, in Gainesville, Fla. doctors said Lewis showed no brain activity. As of early Tuesday afternoon, however, she had not been removed from the ventilator.
“I realize that some people may think that just because a machine is pumping air in and out and stirring your blood around that means you are living,” said poetry promoter and family friend Ron Horne. “Shannon is still gone. The doctors announced it yesterday; they have been waiting for the boyfriend to say goodbye before they pull the plug.”
After the medical news Monday, dozens of poets had posted memories and tributes on her MySpace page and other poetry sites.
“She was phenomenal person inside and out,” said slam teammate Gator, who works with the performance group Public Offenders. “When we performed together, she blew the crowd away. She had this spirit on her. It had to do with her style of poetry and at the same time as a person.”
Austin Poetry Slam, the city’s primary spoken-word group, had planned several fundraisers over the course of the next month to help defray Lewis’s medical expenses. Henry says those events will continue as planned, with the money going to the family. For updates on those events - check austinslam.com.
A memorial service will be held 6 p.m. July 9 at St. Michael’s Episcopal Church. Please leave your memories of Lewis in the commentary box and in the guest book."
From Zen Flesh Zen Bones for Shannon's friends:
"Think only of this. You will need no more. Covet nothing. Your end which is endless is as a snowflake dissolving in pure air"-Bassui
By Michael Barnes | Tuesday, July 1, 2008, 01:13 PM
The coma that enveloped Shannon Leigh Lewis, one of Austin’s most honored spoken-word poets, turned irreversible Monday. She had entered the coma after a June 14 cave diving accident near Ginnie Springs, Fla.
Best known under her stage name, Shannon Leigh, she joined Austin’s hyperactive poetry scene at age 14.

“Certainly none of us knew she was 14,” said Slammaster Mike Henry about her first gig at Ego’s on South Congress Avenue, attended with her mother, Sheila Siobhan, an organizer of the Texas Youth Word Collective. “She was fantastic. Her writing and performance fit together as well as anyone else’s on stage.”
Lewis later won the Austin-wide Under 21 poetry slams in 2003 and 2004. Last year, during a sold-out National Poetry Slam show at the Paramount Theatre, Lewis took third place. She was featured on the HBO series, “Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry,” and represented Austin in the Under 21 Slam Team at the national Brave New Voices Youth Festival. She also had finished writing two novels and produced a hip-hop album titled “Sanctuary.”
“Her writing and performance style were an exact mirror of her as a person,” Henry said. “Absolutely fierce, fearless. Her work was incredibly lyrical, hip-hop infused and intensely personal. It was a shining example of what performance poetry can be.”
Lewis said one of her inspirations was the 1998 movie “Slam” about a rapper living in a gang-infested housing project. Her politically informed poetry was performed with unusual intensity. “It hits people much harder because it’s coming from me,” she told the American-Statesman in 2005, calling herself a “sheltered white girl.”
Lewis, 20, was born in Leeds, U.K. and attended St. Andrew’s High School in Austin before moving to Atlanta last year to attend Georgia State University.
Both her Austin-based parents are globe-spanning performers: Sheila Siobhan is an operatic soprano who co-founded the Austrian American Mozart Academy in Salzburg, Austria. She now teachers at Texas A&M-Kingsville. Her father, tenor William Lewis, also performs operatic roles worldwide, including at top opera houses, such as La Scala in Milan, Italy. He teaches at the University of Texas.
According to multiple reports, Lewis, an experienced diver, was swimming with two other divers, returning alone to the entrance of the cave because of an equilibrium problem. A diving instructor from another group discovered her unconscious. She was brought her to the surface with the help of another diver.
“Recreation diving and cave diving are apples and oranges,” said Dan Misiaszek, retired dive recovery commander with San Marcos Area Recovery Team. “Cave diving requires specialized training and equipment. Even with the proper training and equipment, things can still go wrong.”
Lewis had lingered in a coma for days. Monday morning, in Gainesville, Fla. doctors said Lewis showed no brain activity. As of early Tuesday afternoon, however, she had not been removed from the ventilator.
“I realize that some people may think that just because a machine is pumping air in and out and stirring your blood around that means you are living,” said poetry promoter and family friend Ron Horne. “Shannon is still gone. The doctors announced it yesterday; they have been waiting for the boyfriend to say goodbye before they pull the plug.”
After the medical news Monday, dozens of poets had posted memories and tributes on her MySpace page and other poetry sites.
“She was phenomenal person inside and out,” said slam teammate Gator, who works with the performance group Public Offenders. “When we performed together, she blew the crowd away. She had this spirit on her. It had to do with her style of poetry and at the same time as a person.”
Austin Poetry Slam, the city’s primary spoken-word group, had planned several fundraisers over the course of the next month to help defray Lewis’s medical expenses. Henry says those events will continue as planned, with the money going to the family. For updates on those events - check austinslam.com.
A memorial service will be held 6 p.m. July 9 at St. Michael’s Episcopal Church. Please leave your memories of Lewis in the commentary box and in the guest book."
From Zen Flesh Zen Bones for Shannon's friends:
"Think only of this. You will need no more. Covet nothing. Your end which is endless is as a snowflake dissolving in pure air"-Bassui