Kathi Kamen Goldmark

Kathi Kamen Goldmark
Born (1948-08-18)August 18, 1948
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Died May 24, 2012(2012-05-24) (aged 63)
San Francisco, California, U.S.
Occupation Writer, columnist, publishing consultant, radio/music producer

Kathi Kamen Goldmark (August 18, 1948 – May 24, 2012) was an American author, columnist, publishing consultant, radio and music producer, songwriter, and musician. Goldmark was the author of the novel And My Shoes Keep Walking Back to You,[1] co-authored or contributed to numerous other books, wrote a monthly column for BookPage with her husband, author and musician Sam Barry[2] and produced the radio show West Coast Live. She was a member of the San Francisco band Los Train Wreck, and founding member of the all-author rock band The Rock Bottom Remainders.[3] As President of “Don't Quit Your Day Job” Productions inc., she supervised the production of ten music and spoken-word CDs.

She died of breast cancer on May 24, 2012.[4] She is survived by her second husband, Sam Barry, their three adult children, Tony Goldmark, Daniel Barry and Laura Barry; her mother, Betty Kamen; and her brothers Paul and Michael.[5]

Early life

Kathi Kamen was born in Brooklyn, New York, the first child of Betty and Seymour Kamen, and raised in Cold Spring Harbor, New York. Her parents were photographers who later became educators and writers in the field of health and nutrition. She has two brothers: Paul, a naval architect and writer, and Michael, a college professor. Kathi earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio in 1971, a master's degree from Goddard College in Plainfield, Vermont in 1974, and a California teaching credential in 1974.

Career

In 1972 Kamen moved to Los Angeles with her boyfriend Jim Hodder. Hodder soon became known as the original drummer in Steely Dan, while Kamen worked as a drama teacher at Modern Playschool/Play Mountain Place, a private school in Culver City, California. In 1974, she was recruited to direct The Rock Project (a media-education campaign about alternatives to unwanted pregnancy, directed at teenagers) for a non-profit organization, The Population Institute. She moved the project's headquarters to San Francisco in 1976 and worked for the Population Institute, then the Center for Population Options, until 1980.

She married her first husband, Joe Goldmark, in 1981; their son Tony Goldmark was born two years later. Kathi and Joe Goldmark were divorced in 2002. In 2009, she wed Sam Barry.[6]

In 1983, Kathi Kamen Goldmark started Goldmark Media Escorts, a company specializing in working with authors on book tours in San Francisco.[7] In 1992, Ms. Goldmark recruited a dozen well-known authors to join her in putting on a rock & roll show at a book convention. Meant to last one night, the Rock Bottom Remainders were still performing as of 2010, and have raised nearly two million dollars for charity.

Shortly after the Remainders' first shows, Goldmark was introduced to Jessica Mitford by Maya Angelou. Mitford performed "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" in a Goldmark-produced literary talent show. This led to recordings of Mitford and Angelou singing as "Decca and the Dectones", and the beginning of Goldmark’s boutique record label, "Don't Quit Your Day Job Records" and “Don’t Quit Your Day Job” Productions inc. She was a member of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences at this time. In 1994, her original song “Heartaches for a Guy” was included in the soundtrack of The Stand. Since January 1, 1992, Goldmark and pedal-steel guitarist David Phillips hosted monthly music jams at San Francisco nightclubs. Their band was called Los Train Wreck and included Sam Barry (keyboard and harmonica), Todd Swenson (guitar), Paul Olguin (bass), Peter Tucker (drums), and guest performers (such as author Ben Fong-Torres) at El Rio, a venue in San Francisco's Mission District.

Goldmark's first published work was an essay titled “I’ll Take the Blame” in Mid-Life Confidential: the Rock Bottom Remainders Tour America with Three Chords and an Attitude, published by Viking/Signet in 1994.[8] In 1997, she co-authored The Great Rock & Roll Joke Book, published by St. Martin’s Press, with Dave Marsh. Her first novel, And My Shoes Keep Walking Back to You, was published by Chronicle Books in 2002. She contributed personal essays to several other collections published between 2004 and 2010. Her most recent book, co-authored with Sam Barry, is Write That Book Already!: the Tough Love You Need to Get Published Now, published by Adams Media in 2010. From 2004 through 2010, Goldmark served as Author Liaison for the Friends of the San Francisco Public Library's annual Literary Laureates dinner, and in 2007, 2008, and 2009 as Author Liaison and one of the organizers of Book Group Expo, an annual event for book lovers in San Jose, California.

Works

Charitable work

In addition to founding the Rock Bottom Remainders, whose shows have raised funds for grass-roots literacy programs, Goldmark has donated her time to committees and fundraising events connected to the publishing world, including:

Awards and honors

Kathi Kamen Goldmark has been recognized by the following institutions for her work in support of literacy:

Don't Quit Your Day Job Records releases

Music

Spoken Word

References

  1. ↑ "Roberts, Michael. "Music by the Book". Denver Westword. October 2002".
  2. ↑ "Hellstern, Melissa. "20 Questions with Author and Rock Bottom Remainder Kathi Kamen Goldmark". Oprah.com. April 2010. Web.".
  3. ↑ "McGrath, Charles. "Rock On, but Hang on to Your Literary Gigs", The New York Times, June 4, 2007. Print.". The New York Times. June 4, 2007. Retrieved May 21, 2017.
  4. ↑ Kellogg, Carolyn (May 24, 2012). "San Francisco literary figure Kathi Kamen Goldmark has died". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 24, 2012.
  5. ↑ Sam Whiting. "Kathi Goldmark, 'West Coast Live' co-producer, dies". The San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved May 21, 2017.
  6. ↑ "Schwartz, Marla. "Kathi Kamen Goldmark and Sam Barry Present "Write That Book Already!" and other Favorites". Around Wellington. January 2011. Web.".
  7. ↑ "Gibbs, Hope Katz. "Sam Barry and Kathi Kamen Goldmark encourage us to "Write That Book Already!"". Be Inkandescent Magazine. Web.".
  8. ↑ "Roberts, Michael. "Music by the Book". Denver Westword. October 2002. Web.".
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