Madam, – As a long time fan of the McGarrigle sisters (and more recently of Rufus and Martha) I read with sadness of Kate’s death from cancer last week.
The obituary (January 23rd), while charting her many achievements in song-writing and performance, made no reference to the charming concerts the McGarrigle-Wainwright family gave in Dublin in the 1970s, 1990s and Noughties. The most recent, in Vicar Street, had what you called an “endearingly ramshackle” quality with everyone on stage, Kate, Anna, Rufus, Martha, Lily and more. What matter if you forget the fourth verse, it’s like a conversation where someone takes up where you left off.
Whoever captioned the photograph accompanying the obituary is clearly not a fan as he/she reversed the sisters. Anna is on the left, not Kate.
Adieu Kate. “No more candlelight, no more romance, no more smalltalk . . .” – Yours, etc,