Mimi Fariña
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mimi Baez Fariña (born Margarita Mimi Baez, April 30, 1945 – July 18, 2001) was a singer, songwriter, and activist.
Her older sister, Joan Baez, is a folk music legend. Fariña married novelist, musician and composer Richard Fariña in 1963 at the age of 17, and the two collaborated on a number of influential folk albums, most notably Celebrations for a Grey Day (1965) and Reflections in a Crystal Wind (1966). After Richard Fariña's death (on Mimi's 21st birthday) in a 1966 motorcycle accident, Mimi remarried and continued to perform, sometimes recording and touring with either her sister Joan, or folksinger Tom Jans.
In 1974, Fariña founded Bread and Roses, a non-profit organization, designed to bring free music and entertainment to hospitals, nursing homes, and prisons, initially in the San Francisco Bay area, and later nationally. Bread & Roses still remains in operation, producing 500 shows per year. The organization's name came from a 1911 poem by James Oppenheim, Bread and Roses, which is commonly associated with a 1912 garment workers' strike in Lawrence, Massachusetts.
Though she continued to sing in her later years, releasing an album in 1985 and performing sporadically, Fariña devoted most of her time to running Bread and Roses. She died of a rare form of cancer of the endocrine system in July 2001 at age 56.
[edit] External links
- Mimi Fariña page from The Richard & Mimi Fariña Fan Site
- The Richard & Mimi Fariña Fan Site
- Tribute from Bread & Roses site
