CATHRYN MARIE CASAMO
(original flower child - merry prankster)
aka Stark Naked, The Beauty Witch, Kathy Casano
& Katrina Daniels


(December 22, 1938 - December 12, 1992)


Cathy

photo by Jeffrey Blankfort

 

I feel I should contribute something about her,
as she inspires me so much. Not a day goes by that I don't think about her.
But it is hard for me to describe how she influences me, since I do not know how to interpret it well myself.
I was born in 1991, and therefore don't have any memories of my grandmother Cathy Casamo.
I have only recollections of the ripples she created that are still expanding seventeen years after her death.
I remember seeing her pictures in our house. What struck me most about her were her eyes,
their intensity apparent even in a photograph.
I see those eyes when I look at my mother and my uncle, Holden.
I like to think I inherited them as well,though I lack the same piercing power I know my mother possesses.
I remember the first time I walked the beach in Marin to the waters where her ashes were spread.
I was still young, and did not understand.
It was not until I entered high school that I began to feel her presence, and to see her in my dreams.
Although I have no concrete memories of her, through stories and photographs, I have gotten to know her well.
My mother tells me my love of the arts comes from her.
This makes me smile and I swell with pride to know her blood runs through my veins.
Her legacy inspires me and her spirit guides me.  

Natalie Teter, Cathy's granddaughter