Nuts No More

This past January, Elizabeth Tashjian - the one, the only Nut Lady - died in her room at Gladeview Health Care Center in Old Saybrook, CT. Her story is a long one and the final chapters are rather depressing. A few of us who knew Tashjian in her final years recently got together for a de-briefing of sorts (I hadn't spoken with her for a couple of years when I got the sad news). We talked about our first meeting with the eloquent octogenarian, our slow rise to near-friend status with her, and our quick but inevitable fall from grace with the notorious Nut Visionary. As with many truly original personalities, Tashjian was difficult to access and maintain, which is probably why we're drawn to her. However, while potentially known to millions through her former Nut Museum and appearances on late-night TV, not surprisingly only about 15 people attended her funeral service. Now, her museum is gone and a new tenant resides in her room at the nursing home. A complex and mysterious individual, in her absence we are left only with her unique message - one that she may have preached more than she practiced.