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Anthony McIntyre  ⚑ The last time she visited us, our washing machine packed in during a cycle.

Layne Debrin Murphy

It was on its last legs and it was Layne's misfortune to have some of her clothes in it when it decided to give up the ghost. Not the best memory for her to take back to Los Angeles from Ireland. Fortunately there were happier ones. We had all dined together in a local restaurant where the service was much more efficient than the washer had been. Layne was not just an accomplished cook but had a love for restaurants. Her recommendation from the menu was not to be declined. She had a culinary preference for fish, being averse to eating anything that could walk on four legs. I guess her love of animals, in particular her dogs, would not allow her to countenance a meat based dish. Her comestible basket was was expansive enough to ensure her dogs were served up a nutritious meal, that satisfied them even if the aroma was pungent to the human nostrils. 


Layne was on a trip to Ireland at the time with her husband John. I had previously met her in Belfast on an earlier visit, this time accompanied by John and her two sons. John was a professor of literature whose work would from time to time feature on The Blanket, and later on TPQ.  His love of books expressed itself in the numerous reviews he wrote for his own site, Blogtrotter. He loved Ireland, its history and culture, even mastering the Irish language. She hailed from the Jewish tradition but confessed to not having the same passion to learn the language of her ancestors as John had. 

Layne, like John, had a brilliant mind, inquisitive and open. While I was more familiar with the erudite flow of John's pen she too had an ability to use a pen like a paintbrush and create a picture from words.  When they acquired a home in Ecuador it puzzled me given that they lived and worked in a huge Californian city with the hustle and bustle that goes with that, and which we only tend to miss and value once we are placed outside of it. While she could tolerate flaws in Ecuador she was intolerant of the cruelty that her home country seemed indifferent to. The promise of quietude and the potential for crossing over new horizons must have seemed immense to them. And she used it to write, her final piece on her Substack blog detailed the experience of life in Ecuador. 

Days in San Pablo are lazy. There is dental work and shopping in Otavalo and visits to the market and pharmacy here in San Pablo. I practice Spanish, work word puzzles (including now Wordle in Spanish) tend to my business, cook, listen to audiobooks and lie on the swing in the garden watching the dogs rassle and the shadows move across the volcano. There is seldom more than a thing a day. Refill a prescription OR visit the market in Otavalo OR see the dentist for a temporary crown. After a year I am happily accustomed to this rhythm and mustering the stamina for the more rigorous L.A. schedule poses a challenge.

But even LA was not without its advantages. John would often explain about the commute to and from work which afforded him the opportunity to indulge in his beloved reading. I can identify with that given that most or my book reading happens on trains and buses. Nevertheless, the more sedentary posture she assumed in Ecuador allowed her to listen to audiobooks. Literature just flowed through the couple like a major river winds its way through a city. 

When my wife was back out in LA to see family she visited 'the Murphys' at their home then regale me with tales of how it went on her return to Ireland.  My daughter too spent the day with them on Venice Beach when she visited the states alone as a teen. When our children were growing up, each year without fail at Halloween Layne would send them outfits which they would wear as they went on their trick or treat around the houses.

In her last piece she spoke of how theirs was a food family Yet, I have chosen to live out whatever years are left to me in a country that offers cuisine that pretty much does not thrill.

Unknown to everyone she had only months rather than years left to her. After just over thirty five years of marriage, John explained how his loved one:

died rapidly and with nearly no ability to express her thoughts coherently to me during a baffling and inexplicable decline in health within twelve hours of our return to Casa Quinde from our hometown Los Angeles.

Her cremation took place in Ecuador so far from Los Angeles, not so far from her new home and so close to the hearts of those who held her dear. 

⏩Follow on Twitter @AnthonyMcIntyre.

Layne Debrin Murphy

Anthony McIntyre  ⚑ The last time she visited us, our washing machine packed in during a cycle.

Layne Debrin Murphy

It was on its last legs and it was Layne's misfortune to have some of her clothes in it when it decided to give up the ghost. Not the best memory for her to take back to Los Angeles from Ireland. Fortunately there were happier ones. We had all dined together in a local restaurant where the service was much more efficient than the washer had been. Layne was not just an accomplished cook but had a love for restaurants. Her recommendation from the menu was not to be declined. She had a culinary preference for fish, being averse to eating anything that could walk on four legs. I guess her love of animals, in particular her dogs, would not allow her to countenance a meat based dish. Her comestible basket was was expansive enough to ensure her dogs were served up a nutritious meal, that satisfied them even if the aroma was pungent to the human nostrils. 


Layne was on a trip to Ireland at the time with her husband John. I had previously met her in Belfast on an earlier visit, this time accompanied by John and her two sons. John was a professor of literature whose work would from time to time feature on The Blanket, and later on TPQ.  His love of books expressed itself in the numerous reviews he wrote for his own site, Blogtrotter. He loved Ireland, its history and culture, even mastering the Irish language. She hailed from the Jewish tradition but confessed to not having the same passion to learn the language of her ancestors as John had. 

Layne, like John, had a brilliant mind, inquisitive and open. While I was more familiar with the erudite flow of John's pen she too had an ability to use a pen like a paintbrush and create a picture from words.  When they acquired a home in Ecuador it puzzled me given that they lived and worked in a huge Californian city with the hustle and bustle that goes with that, and which we only tend to miss and value once we are placed outside of it. While she could tolerate flaws in Ecuador she was intolerant of the cruelty that her home country seemed indifferent to. The promise of quietude and the potential for crossing over new horizons must have seemed immense to them. And she used it to write, her final piece on her Substack blog detailed the experience of life in Ecuador. 

Days in San Pablo are lazy. There is dental work and shopping in Otavalo and visits to the market and pharmacy here in San Pablo. I practice Spanish, work word puzzles (including now Wordle in Spanish) tend to my business, cook, listen to audiobooks and lie on the swing in the garden watching the dogs rassle and the shadows move across the volcano. There is seldom more than a thing a day. Refill a prescription OR visit the market in Otavalo OR see the dentist for a temporary crown. After a year I am happily accustomed to this rhythm and mustering the stamina for the more rigorous L.A. schedule poses a challenge.

But even LA was not without its advantages. John would often explain about the commute to and from work which afforded him the opportunity to indulge in his beloved reading. I can identify with that given that most or my book reading happens on trains and buses. Nevertheless, the more sedentary posture she assumed in Ecuador allowed her to listen to audiobooks. Literature just flowed through the couple like a major river winds its way through a city. 

When my wife was back out in LA to see family she visited 'the Murphys' at their home then regale me with tales of how it went on her return to Ireland.  My daughter too spent the day with them on Venice Beach when she visited the states alone as a teen. When our children were growing up, each year without fail at Halloween Layne would send them outfits which they would wear as they went on their trick or treat around the houses.

In her last piece she spoke of how theirs was a food family Yet, I have chosen to live out whatever years are left to me in a country that offers cuisine that pretty much does not thrill.

Unknown to everyone she had only months rather than years left to her. After just over thirty five years of marriage, John explained how his loved one:

died rapidly and with nearly no ability to express her thoughts coherently to me during a baffling and inexplicable decline in health within twelve hours of our return to Casa Quinde from our hometown Los Angeles.

Her cremation took place in Ecuador so far from Los Angeles, not so far from her new home and so close to the hearts of those who held her dear. 

⏩Follow on Twitter @AnthonyMcIntyre.

Anthony McIntyre Obituary

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