June 12, 2017
Jane Austen died on July 18, 1817, at the age of 41. We invite you to post a tribute in the Memorial Book in celebration of her life and work and in commemoration of the bicentenary of her death.
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The Jane Austen Society of North America is dedicated to the enjoyment and appreciation of Jane Austen and her writing. JASNA is a nonprofit organization, staffed by volunteers, whose mission is to foster among the widest number of readers the study, appreciation, and understanding of Jane Austen’s works, her life, and her genius. We have over 5,000 members of all ages and from diverse walks of life. Although most live in the United States or Canada, we also have members in more than a dozen other countries.
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Comments
Mary Mintz Jul 18, 2017, 1:45 PM (7 years ago)
My deep appreciation for Jane Austen's life and work extends to the organization that sponsors this memorial book. The Jane Austen Society of North America has enabled many like-minded people from many different backgrounds to form deep lifelong friendships while enhancing their knowledge of her life, works, and the history of the Regency period. Thank you, Jane, and JASNA.
Patti Oldham Pinkley Jul 18, 2017, 1:21 PM (7 years ago)
Thank you for the adventures I have had, the friends I have made and my Mr. Darcy, all influenced by my life long love of your writings.
Elspeth Flood Jul 18, 2017, 12:58 PM (7 years ago)
How sad you didn't live to write more books and to enjoy the fruits of your labour. How happy that you gave us the six novels that you did.
Elizabeth Pickens Jul 18, 2017, 12:37 PM (7 years ago)
Oh Jane! I remember being 13. Pride and Prejudice was on Masterpiece Theatre and I so wanted to be part of the wittiness and Regency period. A simple but elegant edition of Pride and Prejudice sat on my parents' bookshelves in the living room. I determined I would read it. And it did take determination. I sat w a pencil and circled all the unfamiliar words to look up at the end of the chapter! It's where I learned the true meaning of the word " condescend" as Jane's characters were always condescending to others! I thrilled at the moments Darcy asked Elizabeth to dance, paralleling the ballrooms and parlors of her time with the gymnasiums and jr high dances of mine. My first reading might have been a more superficial one but in subsequent readings I came to fully appreciate her plots, characterizations, and commentary on the patriarchal society of her times. She was of course my choice for my AP English senior author paper. I only got a B plus too(from the hardest English teacher I ever had-D____ P______). But it didn't diminish Jane in my eyes and I learned a lot about why Mrs. Bennett really wasn't so silly for wanting her daughters to marry well. It was the equivalent in today's society of getting into a good college. When I had announced that I wanted to read p and p in 8th grade the English teacher inquired of the local high school English teacher for resources. She said she didn't teach Jane because she was "dry and dated". I have always had an issue with this as I see so many parallels between her characters and situations and today's world as I have already mentioned. She may have died 200 years ago this very day but Jane Austen is alive and well in the 21st century! Live on, Jane!!!
Maria c Ducca Jul 18, 2017, 12:37 PM (7 years ago)
Throughout my life Jane Austen novels have been a constant companion how wonderful! Thank you for your genius
Patricia E. Lee Jul 18, 2017, 12:30 PM (7 years ago)
Thank you, Jane, for all the hours of pure reading pleasure you have given me throughout the years. I have read and reread all your books and love them more with each reading. Your heroines have become my cherished friends whose stories always seem new. The quality and simplicity of your prose is a joy to read and paints pictures in the mind's eye. Rest in peace knowing the joy and delight you have brought to millions of readers you never dreamed would hold your books in their hands and fall in love with your writing.
Evelyn Walker Jul 18, 2017, 12:26 PM (7 years ago)
Jane your works were carried to the front by the soldiers of WWI because they reminded them of home....just one of the tributes to your astonishing books. Your wit and wisdom continue to amuse us 200 years later. "It isn't what we say or think that defines us, but what we do" Well done Jane
Heidi Green Jul 18, 2017, 12:12 PM (7 years ago)
I discovered you at age 14. My mother, who was not a reader, remembered that Pride and Prejudice was suppose to be "good" and gave it to her book worm daughter. It was love at first read. Since then I have read your novels over and over, perused your letters, and attended meetings, book clubs, AGMs, festivals and conferences--all because of you. Thank you dear Jane for the friends met along the way, the stimulating discussions, the hunts in used book stores, and the nights dancing in my beautiful silk Regency ball gown. Thank you for the characters written so true that I keep meeting them off the page again and again. But most of all thank you for the laughter that keeps me coming back to your pen.
Myla Martin Jul 18, 2017, 11:49 AM (7 years ago)
Thank you, Jane Austen, for having the courage and the wisdom to share your gift with the world. You have touched countless lives with your wit, wisdom, and most delightful characters, and for that I am truly grateful.
Kaitlin Traver Jul 18, 2017, 11:28 AM (7 years ago)
Dear Jane,
Today marks 200 years since your untimely passing. You created such strong heroines even in a time when there were little choices for a woman but to marry. You always stayed true to your belief that one should only marry for love. I was forced, yes forced, to read your “own darling child” Pride and Prejudice in high school and I am so thankful for it. You have expanded my literary views, vocabulary, knowledge, and changed my life for the better. Thank you for everything you have contributed to this world.
“The person…who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid.” - Jane Austen
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