Up close with Helen

Helen Foster Snow died on Jan 11, 1997. In China, memorial services were held in Xi'an and Beijing. And since the land was frozen at the time, the coffin was laid into the ground on May 3-60 years to the day that Helen had first met Mao in Yan'an.

A week before her death, Crain, who has taught China-US relations at Shaanxi Normal University since 1981 and has been a long-time trustee of the China Institute in New York, went to see her in the nursing home.

"She said to me, 'Sharon, I want to write some letters, and I want you to write them down and send them out for me'," Crain said."For the 20 years that I knew her, Helen was not a person who would say thank you. You just did things because you loved her. You did things because they were important.

"But then she started to dictate two letters, one for Huang Hua and one for An Wei, to say thank you."

On one of those occasions the three were together, Helen took An and Crain to a cemetery in North Madison.

"This is where I'm going to rest forever," Helen said.

"If I were to come here to see you one day, what would you like me to bring?" An asked her.

Without hesitation, Helen replied:"A yellow rose and a piece of good news from China."

ZHAO XU and ZHANG YUAN in Cedar City, Utah