About this page

This one is for You, who live in all of us. 

Long story short:

I am a portuguese girl born by the end of the 80s and a music lover who found her role model in Mimi Fariña and her music genre in folk songs.

Back in 2018 I was listening to Bob Dylan on youtube. On the next song i found Joan Baez (whom I affectionately call aunt Joanie) and then Mimi. I read both of Joanie's biographies, then David Hajdu book and altought i was fascinated and inspired with her values and actions, I felt much more related to Mimi. 

I never had a role model in my life (and I can tell I needed one) and Mimi is so trustable, so kind and such an amaizing grown up ("Grown up...that awful state of being" - she said, and i can't avoid to laugh because i usually say the same), i must say it was worth all the wait even if she's not physically around anymore. 

Let's be honest, humans can be very disappointing and it's is very easy to paint a perfect picture of someone on our minds that does not correspond to the reality, so, I decided to search a little more, and the more I found and still find about Mimi, the more proud I am. She is a very special soul (yes, despite wearing fur coats, the speeding tickets and being a workaholic etc.).

Don't get me wrong, she certainly had her faults too, she was human, and yes, she was "complex", but...aren't we all? One thing I know, she had a perfect heart of gold, and that's enough for me. 

"For there are roads to choose

you'll need someone beside you

someone right there to guide you

if misfortune should be fall"

Big Party, Mimi Fariña

Perhaps I can relate because I am the youngest of three cousins, perhaps because I always wanted to work in something i trully believe in  (and simply not to contribute to capitalism. - sounds familiar, right?) and that doesn't create an internal conflict with my values but mainly because of everything She was and did for so many people. 

This page is a simple atempt to honor her memory. I felt annoyed and sometimes a little (maybe more than a little...)  angry, because her name is always related to someone else but there was not one single web page dedicated exclusively to Her. So, as a good stubborn - learned with the best - I decided to do it myself.

When people ask me "Why do you do this?"

My answer will always be - because I care enough to do it. Because she deserves. Because someone  had to. Because I simply don't understand why no one did it before me. And because I will always live with this deep sorrow of not being able to do anything else for her. I wasn't there, I didn't met her. I never had the chance. Because if she was still around these days, with 79 years old, and she needed some kind of care or help, She would have a kid to cross an ocean to look after her until the end and beyond. I guess this is the beyond.       

If there is something I would like people to learn about Mimi, is that she was much more than a sister, a wife, part of a duo, a dancer, a comedienne, a musician, a pretty face etc. She was very talented and had many skills, but above and before all that, She was an extraordinary person, a kind and rare one and she was whole by herself. She is the kind of person who brings back faith to humanity. I admire her for everything she was and I love her like I was her own. I learned the hardest way that love and admiration (and grief, unfortunately), go way beyond time and space but nothing beats love, not even death. 

I'll always love her this way and keep her memory alive for as long as I live. 

What started as a personal grieving project became a huge personal grieving project. If there is something I am proud of in my own life, and makes me really happy is what i'm trying to do for Her. Most of the days it helps me to grieve and heal as well, some other days I can't deal with any of this. Her loss is something i will carry for life.

I feel immensely grateful for the life she build to herself. She travelled and met many places and cultures, she fell in love and was loved, she found and founded her place, she had the best heart and spirit and brought joy and hope to many people, she inpired way more people than she could have ever dreamed of, she has really good friends who were there for her along her path, in personal life, for Bread&Roses and for Share the Care Circle, I have a deep respect and I am forever grateful for Mr. Paul Liberatore, her amaizing parter, for being in her life and for being so dedicated until the very end. She lived fully. I also feel very grateful for the people who came into my life because of her and for being able to fly to Marin to testimony and celebrate Bread & Roses 50th birthday just like I promised her.  

Her life was far from easy, but she was very strong - I hope she recognizes it -, she experienced life fully for as long as she could with so much love and bravery despite her loss, all the sadness, the pain and hard times, and altough she left too soon she is out of pain now. She is loved, remembered and missed beyond measure, that i can assure her. What more can I ask for, for someone I love and admire so much? 

 It has been a big adventure to deep dive on the internet and try to find so many websites from the late 90s, early 2000s. 

Sometimes i feel like walking around in circles, i cross the same articles and photos a hundred times, but then i find one more article, one more photo, one more interview. Nothing gives me more joy than to read what she tought or believed, that's what really matters to me, that and the small stories and details like the "ceaser salad guy" who miracoulously sang Amazing Grace with Her on stage without knowing the lyrics, or the song she made for a girl after watching her perform on an old movie (Where the Lillies Bloom), you know, the little things and details no one really cares about (but me, apparently), those are actually the big ones. Everything matters when you didn't have the chance to meet someone who means so much to you. Specially in the late 80s and 90s where she had already found her place in the world and had much more confidence in herself. 

I hope She is proud. I am. ♥


Nothing was made up here, so all the information was obviously collected from other websites/ books / comments etc. and the sources are identified every time possible. I sent messages to a lot of people, I read stories, shared songs, this is, after all, the power of music, it gets people together, and it heals. 

http://www.richardandmimi.com/ from Douglas Cooke (Cookie, as Judy Collins would call) has been a tremendous help. Hope to see it again online soon.

Let me know if i missed something and feel free to warn me.

The page will always be "under construction" as I keep adding, searching and organizing more information. I organized it in a way it makes more sense and i think it's pretty functional and easy to find the diferent subjects.

♫ If you're not familiar with it yet, please check Bread & Rose Presents page to learn more about Mimi's project of Bringing Hope & Healing Through Live Music in the Bay Area! Despite all the challenges through all these years it is still rocking and I am sure it is a dream (and a priviledge) to wake up every day to work for this cause ♫

https://www.breadandroses.org/

Bread & Roses Presents Facebook Page

Take 10 minutes of your day and teach younger generations, friends and family members about Mimi, the importance of live music and of being present for others. You might be changing someone's life forever. She changed mine.

 I am deeply sad that our paths crossed a little too late, but if they did it's because they had to, and still, I cannot put into words how priviledged I feel for doing this in her honor, to make sure I keep her memory alive. She will always be "my grownup".

I can't do this without your help. Feel free to submit your personal history about Mimi to this email formimiwithlove@gmail.com if you are interested in sharing it on this website. I am very grateful :) it means a lot to me.



Much love,

A.