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after a lengthy and brave fight against the Big C. She was the producer of Suitcase on the Loose, a dear friend, and an exceptionally wonderful human. I tried to express what she meant to me on McGarrigles.com. It was the 166th comment in only four hours. Now there are over 300 from all the people who knew her personally or were touched by her and her sister Anna’s incredibly beautiful music. Here’s what I said :
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alex shoumatoff says:January 19th, 2010 at 7:31 pm
Kate connected with an important part of me that no one ever had before, and I suspect, no I know, many other people had the same experience. She had the unusual ability to see who you really were, and to bring it out. Her intellectual curiosity was boundless, and we would have great far-ranging conversations for hours on the phone, sprinkled with the mischievous worldplay she loved. Musically she was a genius, far more sophisticated than the hoaky folkie image she projected in thousands of gigs going back forty years, when we first met in Boston. She was also very practical and a sharp businessman and had the gift of being able to make dreams come true, which she did for me, enabling me to realize my dream of 40 years of getting my songs recorded. “Suitcase on the Loose” never would have happened without her. She had class but was also a gypsy (not that there aren’t plenty of classy gypsies). She was a devoted mother and sister and had this loyal cadre of friends going back to childhood in St. Sauveur who were almost like a cult following and ranged in age from teens to 70 year olds. She leaves a huge hole in my life and everybody she touched that will never be filled. Your work is done, Kate, but the music lives. You did good. undying love to you, Anna, Jane, Rufus Martha, and Archangelo, la valise .