Rest in Peace, Katherine Barber

[volcanohunter]

I'm very sorry to have to post that one of our members, kbarber, has died. Katherine was delightful. I am very grateful to have known her. Whenever I visited Toronto we would meet for dinner before attending a performance by the National Ballet of Canada. At the opera house she was kind enough to lead me to the patron's lounge to take advantage of the refreshments and the far less crowded coat racks and restrooms. Facebook reminded me that exactly four years ago we attended a performance of Charpentier's Médée, and then I learned that she was no longer with us.

The last few years couldn't have been easy for her. Cancer treatment forced her to put her ballet tour business on hold a few years ago, and then the pandemic shut it down yet again. In her mailings she continued to promote ballet streams from around the globe. But I am so sorry she did not live to see the return of live performances or international travel, both of which she loved so much.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katherine_Barber

[Helene]

Rest in peace, Katherine, and my deepest condolences to her family and many friends.

[Drew]

Very sorry to learn of this. I never had the chance to meet her, but her tours sounded fascinating and I sometimes fantasized about going on one. As I always enjoyed reading her posts, I thought I would enjoy meeting her one day as well....Sending best thoughts to her friends and family.

[Kathleen O'Connell]

May she rest in peace, and my condolences to all who held her dear.

I was lucky enough to meet Katherine for lunch during one of her visits to NYC, and she was as delightful in person as she was in her posts here. I'm so, so sad to hear this news.

[JMcN]

Such very sad news.  I first met Katherine at an event in Birmingham and then we bumped into each other there, in other UK venues and in Europe.  I always enjoyed reading her Word Lady blogs.  She was a lovely lady who will be sadly missed.  RIP Katherine.

[pherank]

Rest in peace, Katherine. I'm very sorry to hear this.

Thanks for letting everyone know, VolcanoHunter.

[mom2]

Thank you for sharing this sad news.  We did meet a time or two in person, but I was never lucky enough to take one of her tours.  I always enjoyed her "Ballet Talks" before NBOC performances - I felt I learned more from her than I did from some of the professional dancers who gave talks.

I found this obituary online, it's a very nice tribute to a special person:

https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/toronto-on/katherine-barber-10168613

[volcanohunter]

As @JMcN mentioned, Katherine also blogged about etymology, especially Canadianisms.

https://katherinebarber.blogspot.com

Today her passing was acknowledged by the National Ballet of Canada

 

[mom2]

So nice that NBOC honoured her.  She was probably  their #1 fan and volunteer.

[Buddy]

Yes, Rest in Peace, Katherine.

[dirac]

I am so sorry to hear of this. What a loss for her friends, family, and ballet. 

Thank you, volcanohunter, for posting the news. My condolences to all who knew her.

[diane]

Very sorry to read this. 

Her tours always sounded magical. 

RIP - and many condolences to family and friends. 

-d-

[sandik]

Oh no -- this is awful news.  Like many of the people that we meet online, I never got to see her in person, but I was so impressed with her work in dance.  We exchanged emails every so often -- nothing earth-shaking, but just waving from one place to another "I see what you're doing and am so glad you're there."  Sorting through my inbox last week, I saw a couple things from her and realized we hadn't chatted in awhile.  And now we won't.

Sending love to all who knew her, in the here and now and in the virtual world.

[Dale]

Very sad to learn this. I always enjoyed her posts. Much too young to pass but it seems like she left an impression on the people who knew her. May her memory be a blessing to her family and friends. 

[aurora]

An obituary for Katherine has appeared in the NYT:

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/16/books/katherine-barber-dead.html

[fiddleback]

As the NYT obituary makes very clear, Katherine’s professional career was as lexicographer, ultimately to become Editor of the Canadian Oxford Dictionary. Over the last decade, in her role as Canada’s Wordlady, Katherine wrote a blog describing “the fascinating, fun, and challenging things about the English language” (YES! Katherine, you DID use the Oxford comma!!), entitled Wordlady.  Her wonderful (and not infrequently acerbic) sense of humor is sprinkled liberally throughout each posting - and there are hundreds of them!

Katherine’s last blog post – just a few weeks before she passed – was mischievously entitled Dearly Beloved, and dealt with the usage and misuse of the word “beloved”. If you’ve never been exposed to this side of our beloved Katherine’s personality, take a look – just about any blog posting is likely to  educate in a most entertaining fashion...

https://katherinebarber.blogspot.com/2021/

[Amy Reusch]

So very saddened by this news... I always thought it would be so wonderful to go on one of her tours...  had no idea we could lose her so soon!!

[KarenAG]

I am so very sorry to hear of Katherine’s passing. This is shocking and very sad news. Katherine came to my NYCB picnics with her friends at Saratoga Performing Arts Center at least twice and I was always impressed with her devotion to and knowledge of ballet. Rest in Peace.