Mary Katherine Joyce was the daughter of Elizabeth and Bill Joyce, a former attorney and an Oscar-winning author and illustrator, respectively. She died on May 2, 2010, at the age of 18, due to complications of brain cancer. She was diagnosed with a brain tumor during her senior year at Caddo Magnet High School in Shreveport, Louisiana. She underwent treatments at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, but the cancer was too aggressive and spread to other parts of her brain. She passed away peacefully at home, surrounded by her family and friends.
Mary Katherine was a bright, brave, and fierce young woman, who inspired many people with her courage, grace, and humor. She loved art, literature, music, and traveling. She visited Greece and France with her family during her illness, fulfilling some of her dreams. She also influenced her father’s work, as he dedicated his book series “Guardians of Childhood” and the movie adaptation “Rise of the Guardians” to her memory. Her mother, Elizabeth, wrote a book about her daughter’s life and death, titled “With Love and Fury: How My Fierce Daughter Taught Me to Live and Die”, as a tribute to her legacy.
