From Fred and Ardemis Tajirian

We are shocked by the horrible news of Shona's death. We are grieving with her parents, Maggi, her husband and children.

From Miriam Shadis

I don't remember when I first met Shona; I had read her work, and seen her give some (fabulous!) papers -- but I do remember one particularly rewarding and fun evening, perhaps about 6 or 7 years ago, at dinner at a conference in Philadelphia with Monica Green. We talked about everything, but mostly about our kids, and our work, and how it all intersected. I was so inspired by her! And I loved hearing about her children -- they must know their mother loved them so much and was so proud of them. She and I corresponded last fall, making tentative plans to do something in the future... I so looked forward to getting to know her better. I just came back from Kalamazoo, where there was a lot of sadness about Shona's death but a lot of joy in memory of her. She had a beautiful, fabulous smile, and it's hard not to smile thinking about it. My sincere, heartfelt condolences to Randy, Shane, Alina, Maggi, and all who loved her.

From Nicholas Vincent

Dear family and friends of Shona, I met Shona at the Namur conference, where we had dinner together and a delightful conversation. I am shocked by the suddenness of events and extend to you my very deepest sympathy.

With sincere condolences, Nicholas Vincent

From Deborah Deliyannis

It is a strange thing in the modern world to know people primarily through email. That is how I knew Shona, although we did meet twice in person. I oversee the electronic journal "The Medieval Review," and Shona was one of our editors since 2008. All of our business is conducted via email, and there is enough of it that I do feel that I get to know the editors, or at least an electronic version of them. When Shona died, my first impulse was to go back and look at the emails we had recently received from her; of course, they were mainly business, the last one from April 25, absolutely routine. I know that Shona was having a fabulous time in Italy, and that she had established a very regular pattern of work. She was a very active editor, she enthusiastically weighed in on all of our issues and controversies, she was an extremely good editor, and she really did help to keep this particular academic enterprise going.

I met Shona in person at Kalamazoo, and when I was again at the conference last week I was constantly thinking of her - a lovely brunch at one of my favorite restaurants, dancing with her one year at the dance. I wish that I had had more opportunities to know her better.

From Eileen Brickner

She was such a wonderful spirit -- I always loved her willingness to dance whenever there was music playing and she was always smiling, and let's not forget her humble genius.