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. Finally. It was like getting home, a home i didn't know i had but that i've been looking for since ever. 

Back in 2018 I was listening to Bob Dylan on youtube (i'm not a huge fan but he's a good songwritter). On the next song i found Joan Baez (whom I affectionately call aunt Joanie. Being so protective of Mimi's memory, sometimes i love aunt Joanie, sometimes i really don't. It's been like this all along the way, I don't want to me mean, I know she loved Mimi but the way she does or says things sometimes...it's a pain in the ass.)...and the rest is history. 

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. 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 more, and the more I found, the more proud I was. 

The more i read the more obvious it felt She was a very special person. To me, she is just the best person in the whole world and that's it (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 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. (I mean, that's how everybody should want to be like, right?)

This page is a simple atempt to honor her memory. I felt annoyed and sometimes a little (well, 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), and because i just care so much, i decided to do it myself.

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

My answer will always be - because I care. Because she deserves. And because I live with this deep sorrow of not being able to do anything else for her. I wasn't there, 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.        

If there is something I would like you not to forget, is that Mimi Fariña 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. 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. 

So here i am, what started as a personal grieving project became a huge personal grieving project. In my point of view, I haven't acomplished anything remarkable in my life  (what does that mean anyway? Mr. Michael Pritchard said something i never forgot: "Sucess is a happy life"). 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. But i am not gonna lie, this hurts. Some days i just can't deal with any of this. Her loss is something i will carry for life.

Sometimes i get very emotional because her songs are beautiful, because there is nothing else i can do, nobody can bring her back, and all i can do is 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 am forever grateful to Mr. Paul, her amaizing parter for being in her life and for being so dedicated, he was always there for her until the end. She lived fully. 

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 - i've watched it and i really liked it!), 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 decade 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. I don't know why it is no longer online but fortunately i had saved some of the information to read latter. 

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 certainly 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.