The Anne Winter fund

At the end of her memorial service on Tuesday, friends and relatives of Anne Winter heard the Simon and Garfunkel hymn "Bridge Over Troubled Waters."

I have no idea whether Anne liked or disliked that song. I'm sure, however, that it's one song you'd have never heard at her record store, Recycled Sounds, because it was too everything: mainstream, corny, big-label -- not the sound of indie-rock or the underground or the counter-culture.

But I don't know; maybe she liked it. From her brothers we learned she was obsessed with the "Grease" soundtrack and she liked Billy Joel's "The Stranger" album. Maybe Simon & Garfunkel fit in there somewhere.

The first time I felt a real kinship to Anne was when we both confessed that we liked a lot of songs or bands that would get us laughed out of her store by many of the hipsters and scenesters who shopped there -- our guilty pleasures. It wasn't about the fashion; it was about the emotional reaction.

At first, I knew Anne strictly through music and only as a customer. But once I started doing this job, she helped me get more and more entrenched in the local music scene, which mattered a lot to her. She pulled me aside and advised me to listen and talk to Howard Eisberg, the Get Up Kids, the Gadjits/Architects, the Wilders, Rex Hobart,  Mark Southerland and a few dozen more. She introduced me to friends like Ernie Locke, Robert Moore, Iris DeMent, Chuck Haddix, Sheri Parr, Joc Max, Mike Dillon ... and so on and on.

Late this summer Anne showed up at the Czar Bar for a show and we talked briefly about how the local scene has blown up in good ways, in every direction. She still kept track of the local scene, but loosely, now that her only motivation was for personal benefit. She asked how I kept track of it and I told her that, true, MySpace and Facebook made it easier, but it was harder with fewer brokers and advisers at the floodgates, like her and people at her store, who not only recommended bands and artists but played their music and promoted their shows. Nothing can replace or re-create the vibe of an in-store show at Recycled Sounds.

At Anne's memorial we also heard recordings of "And She Was" by the Talking Heads and one by her friend Iris: "Sweet Is the Melody," a hymn about the power of music and its place in our emotional connectedness: "A note's just a note 'til you wake from your slumber / And dare to discover the new melody ..."

I think Anne felt that way about music in general, whether it was a song by Fugazi, the Flaming Lips, Season To Risk or Billy Joel: if it speaks to you, feel it. Let it move you, arouse you, connect you to others, make you cry or dance.

Music will provide relief and for many of those she left so abruptly as we try to salve our grief and get through the days when we're feeling weary and diminished -- emptier and smaller without her. The past 10 months I've been listening to Patty Griffin's "Long Ride Home," a lament about death and regret and how easy it is to lose our connectedness and become complacent about people we love. Our lives can change traumatically in an instant. It's no cliche. Take no one you care about for granted.

Anne's children will feel this immense loss every day for the rest of their lives. You can give back some kindness and love to Anne by helping them and her husband, Kurt. Donations are begin accepted at anniewinter.org. We will also post news of upcoming benefits.

When you remember Anne in the months and years ahead, think of Max and Eva, too. Nothing would have made her happier.

| T.F.

Comments

[amici]

Beautiful. Just plain beautiful. Thank you so very much for being not just her friend, but her very good friend.

[amici]

correction:
http://www.anniewinter.org

[tim finn]

got it. thanks

[Onederer]

I am lost here. I am hearing different stories about what happened.

What happened to Anne? If I am out of line asking, ignore, I dont know, I am lost.

I am not worthy to judge anyone about how they do thier life, it is their own business. I am considering options myself. I am looking for logic and what is going on. This world is fkd, and it makes no sense, so many lies, and deception.

People say and pretend that they are good, but people suck, and the truth is .... the truth, this world is fkd. What is the point?

What happened to Anne?, does anyone know? Is there any info that could help others?

[Verge]

As a friend and and former employee of Anne I really appreciate this article. The impulse to play records all afternoon in memory of Anne was something I felt in attendance of the Funeral. Perhaps an Anne Winter Mix-tape will soon follow, It would have to include many local bands Anne loved and enjoyed.
As for the questions regarding "why Anne did it?", it's a sensitive topic. With respect to Anne's family and friends, it's just too personal for the internet. However, I think this link is an appropriate response.
http://adastrum.kansascity.com/?q=node/786

[ptgkc]

Tim, Pitch perfect tribute coming from a unique personal perspective. Thanks for your insight and thoughts.

[Vandelay]

Tim, thanks for this post. I hadn't seen Anne in over 15 years, but I felt the loss when I learned of her passing. I knew her as a real inspiration, someone who seemed to naturally bring out the best in people.

(P.S. That Patti Griffin song and the entire album is amazing stuff, isn't it)?

[Tim S]

Beautiful Tim.

[blee]

nicely done, tim, as always. i regret that we couldn't get to the service in time to see and hear all that was done in her memory. as to the why and how she did what she did, that's best left unsaid. if someone wants to honor her memory then do what she did: be open-hearted, care about people, help and encourage someone who needs it, and treat everyone the same whether they are a tramp on the street or the mayor of kansas city. and remeber that music has the power to heal.

[Please give]

shhhhhh, yeah better left unsaid, shhhhhh, stick to the give money part.

Michael Jackson Has Earned $72 Million Since His Death

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i7906335d5f3231a2fc8ccea0e2713ba9

[Brandon P]

PG, Are you actually attempting to compare people's posthumous re-purchasing of "Thriller" and/or souvenir t-shirts to the close friends and family of a dearly departed lady wanting to buy some savings bonds for the two children that survive her? Is that seriously your intention here? Do you not see any difference whatsoever between the for-profit enterprise that was Michael Jackson's every waking breath and the decidedly not-for-profit values of generosity and community that Anne Winter lived by?

Or are you just another feckless, gelatin-spined message board terrorist stopping by to detonate an Improvised Embarrassment Device? (You know, the kind that bruises bystanders but totally shreds the bombers' intellectual credibility.)

You sniveling little worm.

[Tom]

Well said Brandon. I loved Anne and miss her more than you know.

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