Amy Stacey Curtis

I became a better reporter and writer after telling Amy Stacey Curtis’s story early in 2018. I knew Amy from the art world, but the story I had to tell was about her suicidal feelings and her everyday struggle to keep herself alive. I had to listen harder and write with greater sensitivity and empathy than I was accustomed.

I also became a better person because of Amy. She helped me understand what it means to fight to stay alive and how to talk about the darkest of personal struggles. The lessons I learned during our conversations made me more self-aware and a more sympathetic and patient person in all aspects of my life.

I always say it’s an honor when people let me into their studios. When people let me into their lives as Amy and her husband, Bill, did it becomes a kind of trust that’s almost sacred.

The first story appeared in the Portland Press Herald on March 25, 2018