{"id":3058,"date":"2025-06-18T10:19:46","date_gmt":"2025-06-18T17:19:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/magazine\/?p=3058"},"modified":"2025-06-19T11:00:29","modified_gmt":"2025-06-19T18:00:29","slug":"editors-letter-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/magazine\/editors-letter-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Life"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
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Life<\/h1>\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n \n \n June 18, 2025<\/span>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n <\/div><\/div>\n\n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
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\n \n \n Share\n <\/span>\n \n \n <\/svg>\n <\/span>\n Copy Link<\/span>\n <\/a>\n \n \n <\/svg>\n <\/span>\n Facebook<\/span>\n <\/a>\n \n \n \n\n<\/svg>\n\n <\/span>\n X<\/span>\n <\/a>\n \n \n <\/svg>\n <\/span>\n LinkedIn<\/span>\n <\/a>\n \n \n \n \n <\/svg>\n <\/span>\n Bluesky<\/span>\n <\/a>\n \n \n <\/svg>\n <\/span>\n Email<\/span>\n <\/a>\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div><\/div>\n \n\n\n\n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
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Readers of this magazine can certainly never accuse us of dodging the big topics. We\u2019ve tackled so many, including energy<\/a>, health<\/a>, our beloved state of California<\/a> \u2014 even mortality<\/a>. What was left to explore? Life, of course \u2014 the whole big, messy, thrilling, heartbreaking, rollercoaster of it all. From how it all began with a giant bang to what our scholars are doing to preserve it to the meaning of the whole dang thing.<\/p>\n

In the middle of putting together this issue, my son\u2019s father suffered a heart attack in Paris. We jumped on the first flight we could get. Too scared to turn our phones back on in case we were too late, we ran through the airport and jumped into a taxi to the hospital. We were lucky. We got there in time to spend two magical afternoons with him before a second heart attack snatched him from us forever.<\/p>\n

He was an artist and a photographer. He left school at 14, yet among the more than 80 mourners at his funeral were acclaimed actors and musicians, artists and gallerists. He was curious about everything, always creating, always learning, passionate about art, books, history, politics, people and \u2014 most of all \u2014 photography.<\/p>\n

He loved that I worked for a college of letters, arts and sciences. Though he sadly never had a chance to study at a place like USC Dornsife, he would have felt right at home here and would have loved every moment. He never had much money, but he knew the secret of life: He knew how to truly live.<\/p>\n

Death puts life into context. His passing made me deeply grateful for every moment of living. I hope exploring our scholars\u2019 work in this issue brings you renewed appreciation for the beauty and wonder of life.<\/p>\n

Susan Bell<\/strong><\/p>\n

Editor-in-Chief<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n <\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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\n USC Dornsife Magazine\n <\/h2>\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n \n
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Spring \/ Summer 2025<\/h2>\n

The Life Issue<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n \n
\n\n \n \n \n\n Back to Issue \n <\/svg>\n<\/a>\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n\n
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\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n \n \n\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n<\/div>\n\n\n <\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3058","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-letter-from-the-editor"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLife<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/magazine\/editors-letter-life\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Life - USC Dornsife Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/magazine\/editors-letter-life\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"USC Dornsife Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-06-18T17:19:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-06-19T18:00:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Michael Liu\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/magazine\/editors-letter-life\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/magazine\/editors-letter-life\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Michael Liu\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/magazine\/#\/schema\/person\/d03084ed5319ed7575c96017879a7447\"},\"headline\":\"Life\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-18T17:19:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-19T18:00:29+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/magazine\/editors-letter-life\/\"},\"wordCount\":1,\"articleSection\":[\"Letter from the Editor\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/magazine\/editors-letter-life\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/magazine\/editors-letter-life\/\",\"name\":\"Life - 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