An informal gathering to get together with others that knew Kate and miss
her.
When:
This wednesday, 8:30 pm onward
Where:
11th St pub, bt . Avenue A and B, closer to A
(look for the Guiness sign)
There are take-out menus so we can order dinner
bring a song, poem or story if you feel like it
(there are mikes and a PA)
xoxo
Zelina Blagden and Jeff Hill
Guillaume Jutras says:
Je tiens à offrir mes plus sincères sympathies à toute la famille. J’ai toujours adoré la musicalité et la candeur artistique de Kate MacGarrigle (et d’Anna, bien entendu). C’est une bien grande perte pour mon univers musical (qui a déjà perdu Lhasa), et si tôt, il me semble.
Suzie Siegel says:
I just found out that Kate died. I’m so sorry. I’m not just a fan, but I also have sarcoma, and next week, I go into the hospital to have another organ removed. It probably isn’t possible, but I would be forever honored if anyone would want to read one of my poems from my “Sarcoma Series.” http://sarcomahelp.org/journeys/sarcoma_series.html
The following was published in “Something Close to Beautiful” by the Inglis House Poery Workshop. It describes CT scans.
Scans
Scan me.
Can you read the dis-ease?
Drink will reveal me,
the white-chalk taste
lining a crime-scene body.
In goes the needle.
Shoot the dye into my veins.
Shoot the die; I’m on a roll.
I’m in a role.
Radiate me, read me,
an illuminated book.
I’m told, “Hold your breath.”
I think, “I have been.”
In the stillness I hear the whirr
of a thousand wings,
angels dancing on the point of a needle.
“Breathe.”
Shadows and spots
mark my fate
on a film, just a film
between life and death.
I can see through it;
I can see the light behind it.
————-
I know that family and friends are raising money for sarcoma research at McGill, and I’m very grateful. But it would be great if you could tell people that sarcoma nonprofits exist, and patients can be connected to each other by phone or email. Some sarcoma patients never know anyone else with the disease.
I’m a board member of the Sarcoma Alliance (www.sarcomaalliance.org), a nonprofit that provides guidance, education and support for patients.
Campbell says:
I’m there in spirit.
Hello Sidewalks of New York
campbell in montreal
Patrick Stahel (*1965) says:
I’m shattered & deeply moved! The music & the poetry gave me hope as nuthing else as mixed-up teenager and carried on forever. I always listened to “First Born” in my walkman while roaming through empty crystal mountains searching for an inspiration…
Dear Kate, I once even dared to phone to you from Switzerland in the 80’s & you were so open & kind, I will never forget it! Thanks for all the wonderful spirit you brought into this world.
Love forever, the greatest admiration that cannot put into words that exist here^^, Pat (Switzerland)
dougie love says:
FAREWELL OUR FRIEND, BUT NOT GOODBYE,
YOUR TIME HAS COME, YOUR SOUL MUST FLY,
TO SING WITH ANGELS, FIND THE SUN,
BUT HOW WE’LL MISS OUR SPECIAL ONE,
SHE WALKED AMONG US JUST A WHILE,
WEAVED HER MAGIC, MADE US SMILE,
“YOUR LIFE WAS SO FULL OF LIGHT & TEARS,
WE LIVED IT THROUGH YOU, THROUGH THE YEARS”
THE GOLDEN DAYS, THEY WENT SO FAST,
THE PRECIOUS TIMES, WHY CAN’T THEY LAST?
SO MANY LOVED YOU, DID YOU KNOW?
WE WERE NOT READY TO LET YOU GO,
THE STARS FROM HEAVEN ARE ONLY LENT,
A GIFT FROM GOD, THAT’S WHY THEY’RE SENT,
YOUR STAR WILL SHINE NOW IN THE SKY,
FAREWELL OUR FRIEND BUT NOT GOODBYE.”
Lisa Hunter says:
January 27th, 2010 at 11:55 am
Dear McGarrigle/Wainwright family,
Since I learned of Kate McGarrigle’s death last week I have been grieving. I knew her only through her music, but that music played first in my dorm room at college and then in apartments and now in my living room and kitchen as I work and raise children of my own here in Wisconsin. I think of her and your music like that: as offering the music of life, a life well-lived and one I have aspired to, a life not without heartache but filled with children and extended family and friends and creativity and engagement in the larger world. A life centered always on home that reached others through music, but never failed to express the centrality of love and connectedness and everyday adventures and blessings. Maybe this is why her death has felt so personal to me.
Please accept my heartfelt condolences as those of you who did know and love her grieve her death. She will be missed by many she never met whose existence has been made richer by her work.
Sincerely,
Lisa Hunter
Diane Pelletier says:
Tristesse, voilà ce qui nous reste. Tu vas sûrement rencontrer Lhasa dans les prochains jours. Ceux qui vont vous entourer à ce moment là seront heureux de vous entendre avec toute cette musique que vous leur apporterai.
Reste vos oeuvres que nous fera toujours plaisir d’entendre.
Paix à vous à toi Kate et merci.
Neville Kemp says:
Sorry not to have done this sooner. Extremely saddened by the news, especially having seen Kate perform at the Albert Hall, London just before Christmas. This was the first time for both my wife and I that we’d seen a live performance, though we’ve been great lovers of the McGarrigles for three decades.
Our heartfelt condolences to all the family and we sincerely hope you will continue to raise money for Kate’s charity with an annual ‘Not so Silent Night’ in London.
Denise Goudreau says:
My deepest condolences to Anna,Jane,Rufus,Martha and your families on the loss of your dear Kate. As a fan, I was moved and humbled to be able to attend the service for Kate at Montreal’s Notre Dame Basilica yesterday, Feb. 1. It was truly a beautiful tribute to her. Your words and music echoed with haunting resonnance in the halls of that most beautiful basilica and was an experience
I will cherish in my heart.
I look forward to more of the music her legacy has inspired.
Rest in Peace, dear Kate.
Sincerely,
Denise ( Montreal fan )
George Rothenberger says:
Jane and Anna and the rest of the family,
so sorry for you loss. I’ve seen you a couple of times, at Winnipeg Folk Festival when Rufus and Martha were small, and more recently at Cedar Cultural Center here in Minneapolis, MN which was a more intimate venue and a lovely time. I’ve loved your work for decades, ever since the 1975 debut, and am heartbroken at Kate’s passing. Oh how I wish I could join you in New York. I am a musician and songwriter myself and Kate’s (and your) body of work means a lot to me, it is woven into my musical fabric and soul. Maybe that’s why Kate’s loss means so much to me. My wife said the other day, ‘It’s not like you knew her’ to which I had to offer in a fit of black humor ‘she never writes, she never calls.’ A fan of any artist will feel they know the aritist, but to me it’s more than that. She shaped us, spoke to us, we were part of that folk scare together and I still play that material. I play at a picnic/rally every year and ocassionally with another multi-instrumentalist who like me remembers the old union songs, and folk songs and what have-you, and I know it’s part of the milieu you came from too. Funny, I had just emailed that friend to enquire about doing a tribute get-together for Kate here in Minneapolis. I feel a need to reach out and share the joy and sorrow and express my appreciation and sadness as I do here. Because she did write and she did call.
Thank you Anna and thank you, Jane.
Rest in Peace dear Kate.
George Rothenberger – Mn
Peter Sharp says:
My sincere condolences to Anna, Jane, Rufus, Martha and the whole family on the loss of Kate. A fan since the 70’s I only got to experience a short Kate and Anna live performance in Glasgow a few years ago when Rufus was appearing (Martha too). A magical and memorable night. I couldn’t hold back the tears when Sara Watkins, Mollie O’Brien, Cara Dillon, Eddi Reader and Karen Matheson sang a beautiful tribute to Kate (Talk to me of Mendocino) at the Transatlantic Sessions on the last night of Glasgow’s Celtic Connections festival last week.
Thanks for the beautiful music Kate, and for giving us Rufus and Martha.
Peter
Laurie Small says:
I only found out last night that Kate has passed away. I have many fond memories of tour with Kate and Anna in Europe back in the 70s. They were part of my self education as a tour manager. I looked at the U tube Old Grey Whistle site to remind me of the lovely music they made. Thanks Kate.
Peter Morrison says:
This is a very late tribute and I apologies. Those unique voices of Kate and Anna are never far from my ears. I saw them in concert in London 1976ish. \Talk To Me Of Mendicino\ never fails make tears.I know all my friends who heard Kate and Anna were touched by their magic and recently watching video’s of The Transatlantic Sessions shows they are so well respected buy the Celtic fraternity. Thanks for those wonderful songs Kate.
Amy says:
I only found out last night that Kate has passed away. I have many fond memories of tour with Kate and Anna in Europe back in the 70s. They were part of my self education as a tour manager. I looked at the U tube Old Grey Whistle site to remind me of the lovely music they made. Thanks Kate.
Joe Kerchen says:
This started for me last year when my wife bought a copy of Leonard Cohen’s “I’m Your Man”
video. She thought I would like it and wanted me to watch it with her, but Leonard’s songs have always had a very special and maybe privately magical place in my heart, and I refused to listen to anyone else singing them (except of course Judy Collins’ “Suzanne” ).
We had some friends over later who, along with me, reluctantly agreed to watch the video.
Not particularly impressed until I saw Rufus singing “Everybody Knows, and Chelsea Hotel”.
Who is that kid!!! he is amazing! I’m going on and on etc. So then on comes Martha to sing her “not-of- this-world” version of “Traitor” bringing tears to my eyes watching her become the song itself – I don’t think I ever have seen anything like it before (I did fall in love with her immediately – but don’t worry – my wife knows!)I had no idea who Martha was until my wife said “oh she is Rufas’s sister – what!!!
And finally there is Kate and Anna McGarrigle and I think maybe Martha too, singing “Winter Lady” while my wife Lisa is reading credits on the video telling me the McGarrigle’s are mother and aunt to Martha and Rufas! How can that be?
By this time I am wondering where I have been for the last 40 years (born in 1944 )that I am
so musically naive or mostly ignorant, not to be aware of the magic of this family.
The next few days I download Martha’s “Bloody F***A**” and “I Know You’re Married” albums and was able to listen to her music so private and poetic – I am touched with the bare honesty of her singing every time I listen . She is alive.
Then it was only a matter of time that I found out that Loudon Wainwright was Rufas and Martha’s father. I knew of him, but not much about him, by the late sixties, as I was buried in the vast sea of musical feelings that prevailed in those days.
Finally I discovered “The McGarrigle Hour” on Itunes, and presently it is my most listened to music. Then like many others – I heard of Kate’s passing just as I was finding out how very much I liked did her.
I only wish more of us could have been so lucky to have belonged to such a family as yours. The love does show.
thanks,
Joe
Joe Kerchen says:
Corrected Version
This started for me last year when my wife bought a copy of Leonard Cohen’s “I’m Your Man”
video. She thought I would like it and wanted me to watch it with her, but Leonard’s songs have always had a very special and maybe privately magical place in my heart, and I refused to listen to anyone else singing them (except of course Judy Collins’ “Suzanne” ).
We had some friends over later who, along with me, reluctantly agreed to watch the video.
Not particularly impressed until I saw Rufus singing “Everybody Knows, and Chelsea Hotel”.
Who is that kid!!! he is amazing! I’m going on and on etc. So then on comes Martha to sing her “not-of- this-world” version of “Traitor” bringing tears to my eyes watching her become the song itself – I don’t think I ever have seen anything like it before (I did fall in love with her immediately – but don’t worry – my wife knows!)I had no idea who Martha was until my wife said “oh she is Rufas’s sister – what!!!
And finally there is Kate and Anna McGarrigle and I think maybe Martha too, singing “Winter Lady” while my wife Lisa is reading credits on the video telling me the McGarrigle’s are mother and aunt to Martha and Rufas! How can that be?
By this time I am wondering where I have been for the last 40 years (born in 1944 )that I am
so musically naive or mostly ignorant, not to be aware of the magic of this family.
The next few days I download Martha’s “Bloody F***A**” and “I Know You’re Married” albums and was able to listen to her music so private and poetic – I am touched with the bare honesty of her singing every time I listen . She is alive.
Then it was only a matter of time that I found out that Loudon Wainwright was Rufas and Martha’s father. I knew of him, but not much about him, by the late sixties, as I was buried in the vast sea of musical feelings that prevailed in those days.
Finally I discovered “The McGarrigle Hour” on Itunes, and presently it is my most listened to music. Then like many others – I heard of Kate’s passing just as I was finding out how very much I did like her.
I only wish more of us could have been so lucky to have belonged to such a family as yours. The love does show.
thanks,
Joe
Sympathy says:
This is a little late but I thought that should share my condolences. Their music was great and they will remembered for it forever.
Barrie says:
I felt instantly sad when I read this news in the latest Brick literary magazine.
I felt like crying, I don’t know why I felt so strongly about Kate’s dying, perhaps it was remembering her strong presence in our house years ago when we listened to her and Anna’s songs, I’m so sorry that she’s gone.
To her family and friends – be close to each other, hold her close.
I still can’t believe it.
Best wishes from Australia
