Helen Haskell Remien

Helen was born in Bath, Maine on January 15th, 1956, to Ernest Haskell, Jr. and Annie Perry Haskell. Her parents were artists and instilled in Helen a lifelong passion for creative pursuits. Helen spent her childhood swimming in the ocean and playing on the rocks along the rugged Maine coastline with her sister, Auralie and her brothers, Richard and Ernest. The Maine landscape: the lobster boats, tidepools, hidden beaches, and wooded islands, her beloved Sister Point, left an indelible mark and served as inspiration for much of Helen’s writing. While Helen moved away from Maine to Upper Michigan, trading the Atlantic Ocean for Lake Superior, she never abandoned her Maine roots, frequently returning to visit her mother, sister and brothers, nieces and nephews, cousins, and many friends. She never missed a class reunion.

Helen met her husband, Cam, the love of her life, at the University of Maine. They were married in Bath, Maine on August 6th, 1977 and the two set out together on a life of adventure, first moving to Ann Arbor, Michigan, where Cam attended dental school, and then to Ishpeming in the Upper Peninsula, where they put down their roots. Their first son, Peter, was born in Ann Arbor in 1980, while Helen and Cam were living in married housing at the University of Michigan, and their second son, Christopher, was born at Bell Memorial Hospital in Ishpeming in 1982. Helen devoted herself to her family with creativity and joy and always nurtured her children’s passions. She welcomed Peter’s wife, Shelly Ruspakka, into her family in 2004 and Christopher’s wife, Diana Mitchell, in 2014. Helen and Cam celebrated their 45th wedding anniversary in August.

After moving to Upper Michigan, Helen continued her education at Northern Michigan University, earning a bachelor’s degree in English (secondary education) and psychology and then a master’s degree in English with a focus on creative writing. Helen then worked for the university, serving as founding board member of NMU’s Center for Lifelong Learning and an adjunct faculty member for the English Department. It was at NMU that Helen discovered her passion for writing, particularly poetry and creative nonfiction, and she continued to refine her craft throughout her life. She traveled to participate in workshops by famous writers like Galway Kinnell, Sharon Olds, Natalie Goldberg, and Carolyn Forche, and she published more than a dozen books, including memoirs, poetry collections, and collections of essays. She also participated in a number of self-growth workshops by famous teachers like Gene Houston and Sonia Choquette. Always eager for adventure, Helen attended trapeze school in her 50s at Omega Institute in New York, where she learned the high-flying art. Helen was a member of the National Association of Poetry Therapists, and for many years she led writing and creativity workshops, establishing herself as a cornerstone of Ishpeming’s creative arts community.

As she was nurturing her passion for writing, Helen also discovered her love for travel. Spurred to political action by international injustice, Helen traveled to Nicaragua in 1987 with the peace activist group Witness for Peace. Inspired by this trip and the urge to learn more about different cultures, Helen set out to travel the globe with her husband, Cam. The two maintained an annual tradition of a “mystery trip” where one of them would plan an international trip without the revealing the destination or details to the other. Together they traveled to far-off places like Portugal, Morocco, India, Greece, and Belize in trips filled with exploration, adventure, and international cuisine. Highlights from their travels include renting a motorhome to watch many stages of the Tour de France and hiking the El Camino pilgrimage route in Spain. Helen was always eager to share her travel adventures with others through her writing and storytelling.

Wishing to share her creative passions, Helen established the Joy Center in 2008 as a creative sanctuary for teaching yoga and the arts in the Ishpeming community. As proprietor of the Joy Center, Helen, who trained at the Kripalu Yoga Center in Massachusetts, taught classes in yoga and led many creativity workshops, and she also hosted a number of popular free community events like “Out Loud” and “Dinner and a Movie.” Helen cherished the community of writers, artists, yogis, healers, and (above all) friends who gathered at the Joy Center.

While Helen’s life was filled with blessings, her greatest joys were her four grandchildren: Viren, Addie, Aila, and Wesley Ernest. Helen traveled to Idaho frequently to take them each on special adventures, savoring their individual and unique personalities. She would come back from each adventure with photos and stories and compile them in beautifully hand-crafted books for each grandchild. Those books are treasured memories of time spent together with a grandmother who loved them more than anything in the world.

Helen lived a life of joy and was loved by so many. In her own words, “I believe in joy. I believe that deep inside of us there is a bubbling, overflowing, rapturous wellspring of joy, and that it is up to each of us, if we so choose, to find our connection with this energy, again and again and again.” We will all remember the joy of Helen’s bright spirit and the joy she brought to all of our lives.

A celebration of Helen’s life will be held from 1-3 p.m. on Saturday, September 10th, at the Joy Center (1492 Southwood Drive, Ishpeming). Helen’s family requests that love offerings be sent in her name to Trillium House.