LAKE COUNTY – We all knew, and now miss, the talented Joan Holman – actress, singer and photographer, and for many years a newspaper reporter in the Bay Area. She passed away at 94, having been on stage since her youth.

Many of us have been in a cast with her, or sung with her. We have seen her acting on every stage in Lake and in Ukiah, seen displays of her photography at the Lake County Fair and in the Main Street Gallery.

We have been in the audiences when she served so effectively as master of ceremonies. We have sat and discoursed with her at the gallery as she sat Tuesday mornings, for many years, behind the front desk.

There’s a lot to miss; she entered our worlds in many ways, and always memorably.

We’ve not seen any of her news stories from the old days. While she performed on stage so many times, she wasn’t in any movies. There are some photos of her acting, some on the Lake County Arts Council's Web site, but that is not the same as seeing a performance.

Perhaps somewhere there are CDs of the lake chorus that she sang with; I don’t know of any. Stage work is like that; when the performance is over, it is gone with the wind, leaving an impression, a memory that fades and gets put in the rarely accessed mental folders.

About the only really tangible evidence that we have of her creativity are her photographs. She took a great many in her travels, and she traveled frequently, to all the corners of the world. Once home, she would sort through the negatives and choose some to be blown up. Then she would sort through those prints for the best and frame them behind glass, submitting them to the Fair, and once a year or so having a show at the Gallery. It was an unusual Fair where she didn’t win a prize.

She had a good eye for the picturesque and the interesting. She found out-of-the way locales and familiar sights, and made each of them her own. Her photographic skills were good, and the images are clear and sharp and balanced. They look good on the wall. They sold in the gallery, and in Art in Public Places, but there are some left, and they are fine.

On Sept. 20 at 2 p.m. the Arts Council will have the last showing of the photography of Joan Holman.

The Arts Council will auction the complete collection of her framed large-format photography. It’s behind glass, matted and ready to hang. Her heirs have donated it to the Arts Council, in accordance with her wishes. The idea is to get the work into the hands of her friends; if the Arts Council can make a little out of it, that’s all to the good. The Arts Council does well on just a little.

Bert Hutt will be the auctioneer because he is really good at it, and we will serve drinks and snacks because we are really good at that.

We hope to see you there. After all, it is the last chance. Don’t miss it!