Barrett Cole

This is an extremely difficult letter to write and I realize most of you don’t know me, so first I’ll introduce myself so you have that as a point of reference. My name is Mark Lattimer, Barrett’s husband of twenty-four years.

I know a few of you on occasion write to Barrett, I’m not sure what communication you had with him over the past few months, but I do know this will be a complete surprise to everyone.

There is no good way to prepare someone, or easy way to say this.

Our Barrett died on March 10th at 11:30 P.M.

He was diagnosed with liver cancer on November 5th. It was a difficult and painful struggle. He was unable to eat for three months. He was very weak, but he tried so very hard to keep going as best he could.

His struggle through the disease was unimaginable. He was given a chemo-embolization treatment on January 8th, which did kill the tumor; however, the tumor was the full size of his liver. There just wasn't enough healthy liver left.

He didn't want to be in the hospital or a hospice center. He wanted to be home. I was with him every minute, helping with everything that he needed. He died at home in his bed while I was holding him.

I realize most of you didn’t have an opportunity to meet Barrett and I feel it’s important for you to know the man you admired for his extraordinary command of the language and his expressive and exciting story telling. He was an accomplished lawyer, and graduated law school magna cum laude. Barrett was also the most gracious, elegant and dignified man, with love and compassion for all. He also possessed the most inquisitive mind and passion for knowledge on a myriad of topics, all this while being vibrant, vivacious, and decidedly bawdy. He was only fifty-two years old.

He cared for everyone of you who enjoyed his talent, and he treasured your interest in his writing. All of you who read his stories and wrote to him with praise or to criticize meant more to him than you may know. He valued each comment and worked very hard to be the best writer he could, pleasing his fans his ultimate goal. From the very beginning in 1989, every letter he got from an enthusiastic fan excited him and gave him pure joy. He always shared that joy with everyone who was involved with the production of Barrett Cole books.

He had vision and he shared it, he knew how to make things happen, and he didn't stop until everything met his vision and was perfect. His ability to set a goal and accomplish it was—and is—inspiring.

After receiving the diagnosis of cancer and shortly before his death, Barrett wrote a letter to his family, friends and co-workers. As a means for you to better understand the man he was, I’m including a portion of that letter. It speaks to his strength, conviction, and love for those he held so dear.

As you read, you’ll see this was not Barrett’s first encounter with cancer. That happened in 1989, during his treatment and recover is when he began writing. It’s also the time he reached out to two amazing and talented men, Jeff Kincaid and Sean who encouraged Barrett and became life-long friends. The never before displayed illustration by Sean titled, “The Birth of Barrett,” show’s him doing what he loved and how it all began, so I thought it was the right choice to accompany this letter and share with you.

“For my part, I felt like I was in an elevator free-falling from a great height. My stomach was doing uncontrollable flip-flops. My heart was jack-hammering inside my chest. Mind you, this wasn’t the first time I’d been diagnosed with cancer. Oh, no. I’d heard a combination of attention-getting words very similar to this many years before – back in early 1989 when I was diagnosed with lymphoma.

At this difficult time, I have placed my trust in the proven skills of my doctors and in God’s love and unfailing mercy. I believe the Chemoembolization treatments will be successful, but I know for certain that if they aren’t, I have nothing to fear.

The power of prayer is a wonderful thing, and I know that many of you are praying for me. I sincerely appreciate being kept in your thoughts and prayers and am hopeful I can conquer this terrible illness with God’s intervention.

For my part, I don’t pray to be cured. I ask, instead, to be able to accept this frightening diagnosis with dignity and strength. I ask for the courage to bravely deal with whatever pain and suffering may come, in the certain belief that my unshakable faith will get me through this unafraid and unbowed.

Those of you who know me well know that I’m something of a “cantankerous coot.” As such, I have no intention whatsoever of going down without a fight. This is merely one more challenge that must be met and expeditiously dealt with.

Please continue to pray for me. I am going to need all the strength I can muster.

Love to all of you.

Barrett Cole”

I truly believe everyone who was fortunate enough to have known him benefited from their relationship. As one of his former co-workers said, "I've never worked for someone like him, I've never worked with someone like him and I know I never will again. He helped me professionally and personally; he didn't just touch peoples lives, he changed them."

He certainly changed my life, and I am eternally grateful. He was and is my light, my strength, my conscious, my soul and most certainly my love, and always will be. I treasure every second we had in our twenty-four years together and I miss him more than words can express.

As for the web site, it will continue. Barrett always said the thing he is most proud of in his life was his writing. He had completed several stories yet to be published and believe me, he though of his writing as his immortality. I will do everything I can to make that happen. It will be some time before the next up-date, there are legal issue that must first be worked out. I will try to send a notice to each of you when new material is available, but until then please check the site occasionally for a notice.

Please treasure every minute you share with those you love, every gesture, every experience no matter how small it may seem, for those times are more valuable and more precious than you can imagine.

Barrett lives on through the enjoyment he hoped his writings give you.

Compassionately,

Mark