Tuesday, June 01, 2010

Carla's Self-Penned Obituary

Carla Zilbersmith, born December 15, 1962, died May 17th, 2010. Carla Zilbersmith died in her home of Lou Gherig's disease, also known as ALS. Carla Zilbersmith was mother to Maclen Zilber, her only son...that she knows of. She was also daughter to Jack and Velma, sister to Jason and Stephen. Friend to an amazing group of caring, creative and competent friends, and lover to several very lucky and largely undeserving men. Although ALS is a fatal and incurable illness, Carla never gave up hope that one day her death would be surrounded by a cloud of controversy and speculation. Her final words, spoken through a clenched jaw were "oil can."


Dear Friends and Fans of Carla,
We regret that due to the size of the venue, Carla's memorial will be private. We understand the love and admiration she inspired and welcome everyone to share their favorite funny memories of her here, and encourage you to create your own memorials with the friends in your circle. Memorial gifts are welcome to a variety of places.

1. CPMC Foundation (Forbes
Norris ALS Clinic), 2015 Steiner St, San Francisco, CA 94115. Please note on the check, "In memory of Carla Zilbersmith."

2. The Documentary Film about Carla:Leave Them Laughing
http://www.leavethemlaughingfilm.com/blog/donate/

3. The Carla Zilbersmith Performing Arts Scholarship Fund at Los Medanos
College
http://www.losmedanos.edu/scholarships/
Specify the specific scholarship please

4. The Carla Zilbersmith Drama
Scholarship Fund through the College of Marin Foundation, P.O. Box 446,
Kentfield 94914.


5.
TEAM CARLA! Bike Ride to defeat ALS team with Carla's caregivers
http://web.alsa.org/site/TR/Events/BayAreaEvent2?team_id=180484&pg=team&fr_id=6771

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Carla can be honored in the following ways:

1. Leave Them Laughing

http://www.leavethemlaughingfilm.com/blog/donate/


2. The Carla Zilbersmith Performing Arts Scholarship Fund at Los Medanos College

http://www.losmedanos.edu/scholarships/

Specify the specific scholarship please

3.The Carla Zilbersmith Drama Scholarship Fund through the College of Marin Foundation, P.O. Box 446, Kentfield 94914.

clive bridges said...

Carla

Bless you for ever more

Clive

Anonymous said...

may carla rest in everlasting peace. we shall miss her, greatly.

love always...

psalad said...

RIP Carla... and good wishes to her family and friends. You are blessed to have known her.

Anonymous said...

my heart is with you....

Joanne Clapp Fullagar said...

Another honor possibility: The Chicago Walk to Defeat ALS. http://web.alsa.org/goto/jcf

Unknown said...

This is how I discovered your beloved Carla, from reading this in the obituary in the LA Times. I had found a soul-friend just a day too late.
But then I found her blog, and I swoon with joy at her writing. She has inspired me to dive into my life again.

maggie said...

blessings to Carla's family.

Anonymous said...

never in this life have i been in touch
with a woman as amazing
as carla
seriously
she made the world
better
more real
funnier
FUCKING funnier
than the world i used to
live in
before
and all that arose
for me
here
on this blog

thanks...and RIP now...

Anonymous said...

Those final words must have been misunderstood, because Carla did have a heart—perhaps the biggest heart of all.

Marie Cain

Kathleen said...

My first Auntie Carla Rule outing was to join a friend working in Telluride, camping out by myself, rather than stay home and work in the yard. (Just say yes!) When I got there, I discovered they were having a hot air balloon festival. It was so beautiful, and delightfully serendipitous. Thank you again, Carla, wherever you are!
-Kathy in Colorado