Too Short A Season: It has been my goal to manage this site so that models and artists understand that their work is presented with respect, regardless of content. Because we are examining the portrayal of little girls in our society, I felt it important that Pigtails in Paint should be a place where women can be heard and listened to and that they feel safe doing so. On occasion, former models have come forward privately or publicly to share anecdotes or request mementos of their work. Recently Makenzie, a cousin of Samantha Gates, came forward to tell me she was starting a site dedicated to Sam and wanted help contacting artists who used her image in their work. It was fun learning about the various jobs Sam did that no one outside the family knew about and will hopefully one day appear on that site. But after exchanging only a few messages, I got an email from one of her friends Amanda (who has been commenting on this site lately) telling me that Makenzie’s stomach cancer has taken a turn for the worse and that she was in the hospital. I have been informed that she passed away last month survived by a loving extended family and many friends. It is too bad I did not get to know Makenzie better and hear more stories of her girlhood memories. This is the third person I know this year who succumbed to cancer, all before their time: first my youngest aunt, then Poli Papapetrou and now Makenzie. It is said that the world changes one funeral at a time. But what kind of world will we have when it is the good people who leave us?

Life as a Girl Decade after Decade: Pip uncovered an interesting project intended as a book series sharing the testimonial of girls in America living in various decades the past 100 years. The first book, Girlhood in America, shares over 50 stories of life told by the girls themselves and includes a number of photographs as well.