Obit: Diane Easby (May 2013)

Subject: RE: Obit: Diane Easby [borchester echo]
From: Jeri
Date: 22 Aug 13 - 03:09 PM

Chris, I'm sorry I crabbed at you, too.
(Mudcat is losing posts again -- third time I've sent this.)

Subject: RE: Obit: Diane Easby [borchester echo]
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 22 Aug 13 - 03:46 PM

You accused me of being sexist... of leering over women.... of being some sort of pervert... but hey Diane... you knew your music even if you got me wrong! Rest in peace.

Subject: RE: Obit: Diane Easby [borchester echo]
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 22 Aug 13 - 04:01 PM

It's sunk in a bit now and out of the initial sadness I have started looking through old posts.

I once had an idea to walk the route as sung in Mr Fox's 'The Gypsy'. Two grand things came from that thread. I got in touch with Bob Pegg to go over some details and found him one of the most helpful and generous people I have encountered. Second was Diane offering to join me -

I love mad ideas! In early April this year I walked the Hambledon Drove Road section of the Cleveland Way and part of the Lyke Wake walk.

I'm up for this one. We could all have Mr Fox on our walkmans...and try and make the overnight stops at pubs with music.



I really wish I had done it now but, when I do, I will certainly take Diane up on the Walkman idea and have a pint or two for her as well :-)

There were many others and lots of PMs, far too many to mention. But I shall reflect and remember her fondly as one of my mentors and a fellow spirit in not suffering fools gladly.

Cheers Diane, I am sure you would know what I am referring too!

Dave

Subject: RE: Obit: Diane Easby [borchester echo]
From: Kampervan
Date: 22 Aug 13 - 04:44 PM

How sad, how very very sad I am to hear this news.

Like many others, my first contact with Diane came shortly after I joined Mudcat and I posted a critical comment about a well-known and very popular artist.

Diane castigated me in no uncertain terms, quite rightly, because what I said was personal and opinionated rather than constructive criticism.

I've tried never to do that since and to always look for the positive in people rather than the negatives.

Diane taught me that, and we exchanged several PMs in which she was unfailingly friendly and helpful.

As has been said repeatedly, her knowledge of f*lk was encyclopaedic and she was always ready to give anyone the benefit of it (whether it was wanted or not!)

I know that she stopped participating in Mudcat some time ago but I will always remember her with affection; and the thought that she will never again contribute to this forum is intensely sad and depressing.

Thanks for everything Diane, it was great knowing you - even from a distance.

K/van

Subject: RE: Obit: Diane Easby [borchester echo]
From: GUEST,Chris Murray
Date: 22 Aug 13 - 07:35 PM

I've just been looking at Diane's posts on Mudcat. Her last post (less than a year ago) was an enthusiastic review of a concert that she'd been to, with information about future concerts. That was so typical of her. She constantly enjoyed the music, particularly anything new and fresh.

Subject: RE: Obit: Diane Easby [borchester echo]
From: GUEST,cardboard cutout
Date: 23 Aug 13 - 08:53 AM

I never (knowingly) met Diane/Countess Richard/Borchester Echo either, but always enjoyed her posts and appreciated both her defence of younger more innovative or creative artists, (which was the purpose for which she first joined Mudcat, I seem to remember),and comments against the general messageboard reactionary excesses.

Very sad, and she's much missed. Hoping she had the ending she would have chosen.

Subject: RE: Obit: Diane Easby [borchester echo]
From: GUEST,Captain Jack Sparrow
Date: 23 Aug 13 - 09:30 AM

Diane was one of the great characters of the Folk Message boards. She certainly knew a lot about music and was pretty good at passing that knowledge on, albeit that sometimes you felt you had been on the receiving end of a live hand grenade. She had her own blind spots to the attractions of certain artists and sometimes overlooked deficiencies in her own favourites, but so do we all. I shall miss her.

Subject: RE: Obit: Diane Easby [borchester echo]
From: Nigel Paterson
Date: 23 Aug 13 - 11:51 AM

Sad news indeed. Diane was a loyal supporter of The Halliard & Nic Jones. We never met; corresponded intermittently & spoke on the phone occasionally. I valued her knowledge highly & sought her counsel often. A great loss...Diane was one of a kind.
                                                    Nigel Paterson.

Subject: RE: Obit: Diane Easby [borchester echo]
From: GUEST,Emma B
Date: 23 Aug 13 - 01:00 PM

Like many others who respected Diane for her wealth of knowlwdge and forthrightfulness I will miss her wit and wisdom.
I never had the fortune to meet her in real life but stayed in touch by her occasional posts to a friendship group of other likeminded 'lapsed catters' on Facebook.
R.I.P

Subject: RE: Obit: Diane Easby [borchester echo]
From: Lizzie Cornish 1
Date: 25 Aug 13 - 09:30 AM

From Ralph: >>Lizzie...Rude? Don't think so. Just practical. I'm sure the police would have contacted the local rescue centre months ago regarding the cats.<<

Well, they sure as hell didn't do that when she was taken into hospital, Ralph. I, and others, contacted various organizations and this was eventually sorted out for her, because she was worrying her head off in hospital, as she knew her cats *weren't* being taken care of.

George has very kindly contacted others who may know what happened to them and hopefully, they ARE being taken care.

I know she won't rest, were this not the case.



>>>>"If anyone is being rude I would suggest it isn't me."<<<<

Nope, you've been a spiteful, sarcastic, unpleasant ol' bugger towards me since I DARED to suggest on the BBC board, that many artists came together to sing some of Nic's songs, with the money being raised going to help him.

You see, Diane wrote to me to tell me that you wanted it passed on to me that if EVER I took Nic's name and started writing about him, you'd make sure I came to know about it...She wrote to me on Myspace....She'd been having a 3 hour conversation with you and seemed a little out of it, as she was spitting out vitriol to me, where before, she'd been kind and 'normal'. She also told me you were her dearest friend.


>>>"Yes, I had my run ins on line with Diane, but, having had a few meetings with her over the years, I managed to form a friendship. Don't think that the same will happen with you?<<

How absolutely correct you are, Ralph, for I do not make friends with those who are total shits towards me...You even got told off for your constant bitchy bullying of me by Fiona, another of the BBC posters now passed on...despite me being her Numero Uno person to harrass..

This was because Diane and I had both verbally whacked her bum for being a real pain in the arse towards us both, trying to get us removed from the board, constantly moan moan moaning about us....BOTH Diane and I had kept quiet until one day, she simply way overstepped the mark and got told what both of us should have told her a very, very long time before...

This upset her and, having finally had a dose of her own medicine, she then took YOU to task for doing exactly what she herself had done so often to me, telling you that she now knew how it felt and asking you stop...

But you never did...bringing it over too....

My friends aren't folks such as you, but kind, loving people who'd never dream of doing what you did, what you do.

I don't like you anymore, pure and simple. I once liked your music, but now no longer own any of it, for bullying, snidey little shits do not live in my record collection, no matter how lovely their music.



>>>>"As this is an Obit thread for Diane, I will refrain from suggesting that you stick your head up your arse for being so deliberately, and unnecessarily rude."

This is indeed an obit thread and a little more respect is due. To say you will refrain from suggesting something whilst doing exactly that is intellectual dishonesty.<<<<

Sigh....

It's called fecking HUMOUR, Marianne! And, may I politely suggest that as this IS an Obit thread, you either talk about the person who has died, or just don't say a word, rather than come in here and ONLY post what you did....

You see, it's...doh...HUMOUR! As in, I SAID it, then said I wasn't going to say it...

I rest me case m'Lud!

Gawd, Diane would be having a fit over the lack of humour in this thread, for the one thing she did have, at times, was a rollickingly dry wit. She could be a right pain in the arse at times and drove me nuts, but there was another side to her too...and I think she'd been fumingly angry with the world ever since Sandy Denny died, who she once mentioned on fRoots as having been her best friend...

And now, I'll leave some of the Moaning Minnies to this thread...

Oh, but before I go, Chris, I DO accept apologies, because, as ever, you were so fast to jump in with criticism of me that you didn't even BOTH to go and find the thread about Diane that I started...

Please note, that the reason I started that thread Incognito (which Joe and a few others knew about) was BECAUSE of folks such as yourself who just can't WAIT to swoop down and have a go at me..

You fucked up badly
You chose NOT to apologise...

YOUR decision
YOUR personality....

Thank you.

I hope Sweetums is up there giving Fiona Faery a right talking to and making God wish he was down here for a while, because she sure will be The BADDEST Angel in town. ;0)

:0)

Subject: RE: Obit: Diane Easby [borchester echo] (2013)
From: GUEST,Silas
Date: 26 Aug 13 - 01:08 PM

Really sad news. I, like many people here had more than one run in with Diane - but its only because we are all pasionate about our music - she was incredibly knowledeable, we will probably never know just how knowledgeable and well connected she was which is a real shame. We said some pretty mean things to each other in the past. I regret this now - but it is too late to put that right and if she was still here I probably wouldnt want to! Such is human nature.

Ma your god bless you Diane - and thanks for the memories.

Subject: RE: Obit: Diane Easby [borchester echo] (2013)
From: theleveller
Date: 26 Aug 13 - 01:36 PM

Sad to hear this news. We had many a bitter battle (which I'm sure we both enjoyed)- often when we were on the same side. Latterly, we found we had a lot in common; not just folk music and especially young performers like Mawkin, but our political leanings, love of English literature and cats, our Yorkshire roots, and the fact that we both painted our bathrooms red (she repainted hers because she said it was like showering in tomato soup). Thank goodness you were an athiest - God woudn't stand a chance against you.

Goodbye, Diane. I think Nikos Kazantzakis' epitaph would be appropriate for you: "I hope for nothing. I fear nothing. I am free."

Subject: RE: Obit: Diane Easby [borchester echo] (2013)
From: treewind
Date: 26 Aug 13 - 06:37 PM

Mary and I have met Diane and even stayed with her once after a London gig. She was a charming host (I think we might have been given her bedroom while she slept in the spare room, but one doesn't ask) and over a long breakfast we put the folk world to rights (as you do). In real life she was much more quiet spoken than you might expect from her Mudcat postings, but she certainly knew a lot about the folk scene over many decades.

I'm sorry to hear she's gone, and rather sad that her death wasn't reported nearer the time it happened, even on Mudcat which often gets the news first.

RIP

Subject: RE: Obit: Diane Easby [borchester echo] (2013)
From: Smedley
Date: 27 Aug 13 - 06:52 AM

Sad news. Her posts here would enliven any discussion with sharp and merciless wit and she will be greatly missed.

Subject: RE: Obit: Diane Easby [borchester echo] (2013)
From: Dave Sutherland
Date: 27 Aug 13 - 08:24 AM

Just caught up with this thread having been away for a week and I am very sorry to hear this bad news. Diane's knowledge of music, politics and grammar was unquestionable and she literally dared you to confront her. Yes, we clashed from time to time regarding folk music but the infuriating this was that while we both cherished the same values regarding the music, its portrayal and presentation, I nearly always found her coming at it from an opposite angle. When she did actually agree with you it seemed like you had achieved a profound victory!
We did correspond via Facebook and on PM occasionally where we got along very well; the greatest compliment she paid me was when David Sutherland, also from the North East, had done exceptionally well on Mastermind answering questions on The Child Ballads. Going on Facebook to confess that this person wasn't me she answered that she thought it wouldn't be "since it would be a bit of a hike to travel from Nottingham to Gateshead for work every day!"

Subject: RE: Obit: Diane Easby [borchester echo] (2013)
From: alanabit
Date: 27 Aug 13 - 12:29 PM

She was certainly an interesting and lively member of this forum. I met her once at St.Albans when I played there with Markus. I don't know the area well, but I believe she made a considerable effort to get out. She was witty and engaging in person and I wish I had known her better.
Many people here knew her a lot better than I did, but I found her interesting for many reasons, not least for the fact that she too had lived in Germany. (She spoke fluent German and French to a level that she was able to work as a translator).
I am very sad to hear of her passing.

Subject: RE: Obit: Diane Easby [borchester echo] (2013)
From: Brian Peters
Date: 27 Aug 13 - 02:56 PM

As Anahata said, Diane was surprisingly soft-spoken in person, if you only knew her via Mudcat. I never had an online fall-out with her myself, and I admire those above who have put past flamewars behind them to offer their tributes. Some of her posts were witty, most of them knowledgable, and some of them plain terrifying. All of which made her one of the 'must read' contributors here. A very sad loss.

Subject: RE: Obit: Diane Easby [borchester echo] (2013)
From: GUEST,Lizzie Cornish
Date: 27 Aug 13 - 06:09 PM

You know, I would have loved to have actually *seen* Diane, in a photo. I've visualized her so often...

And leveller, I loved your post.. :0) x

Subject: RE: Obit: Diane Easby [borchester echo] (2013)
From: Bonnie Shaljean
Date: 28 Aug 13 - 07:13 AM

I was shocked to arrive home and open Facebook messages from Chris, first saying that he was asking a friend to call to her flat, then confirming the sad news. Even sadder that the only people who seem to care enough to make enquiries all live miles away. I wonder if there was even a funeral.

I met her for lunch last time I was in London, and (along with Kevin Shiels) had a great gabfest putting the folk world to rights, recalling old friends and reliving past times. I was so looking forward to getting together with her again, and taking that canal-side walk in Canonbury, near where I used to live, that we promised ourselves. She was a stalwart of another era, and it's devastating to think that one more of us is gone.

I can confirm what other people have said - that she was far nicer and gentler in real life than her peppery online persona would suggest. Also far more sensitive. We emailed each other quite a lot at one time (I think later on, eyesight problems made computer work difficult for her - she was going to Moorfields regularly, plus a whole slew of medical appointments in other areas). But it always baffled me that she could be such a great friend offline and then - too often - turn into Ms Hyde once she got anywhere near a forum. She once expressed private regret to me about how many people she had pissed off, prompting me to wonder (but not ask) why she wrote in such a provocative manner.

It's been a horrible time for losing people. I'm just home from California, where I've been attending my very ill father, who died while I was there. I had intermittent internet access, and the first time I popped my nose in here, it was to learn that our beloved Kat had passed. Then when I got back to my own computer and and looked at my Facebook messages, I found out from Chris that Diane was gone. Then here, only to learn about Bobbie Ritchie (R.I.P.). Interestingly, Diane had sent me an audio clip of Simon Ritchie (of whom she was a fan) as a Christmas greeting just this year past. So it's with a very heavy heart that I write this. In the immortal words of James Taylor:

Always thought I'd see you again.

Rest in peace, Diane

Subject: RE: Obit: Diane Easby [borchester echo] (2013)
From: GUEST,Mike Rogers
Date: 28 Aug 13 - 07:37 AM

I always wanted to meet Diane, partly because she knew some people that I knew from way back, and partly because I suspected that there was humour, rather than malice, in some of retorts. Sad that she's passed gently.

Subject: RE: Obit: Diane Easby [borchester echo] (2013)
From: GUEST,squeezy
Date: 28 Aug 13 - 08:24 AM

This is horrible news - and such sad circumstances.

I did meet her many times in person and all I can say is that face-to-face she was charming and intelligent and meeting her put the sometimes abrasive nature of her musings on various forums in to context - which was that she was very driven and passionate about music and particularly traditional music and had very strong views - but she was normally smiling when she conveyed them. I think that taught me a lot about the pitfalls of trying to discuss important things using only text with people you don't know much about.

Lizzie if you want to know what she looked like - here's a picture of Diane at a Bellowhead gig

RIP Diane

Subject: RE: Obit: Diane Easby [borchester echo] (2013)
From: Kevin Sheils
Date: 29 Aug 13 - 05:01 AM

Glad we had that short time with Diane recently Bonnie. I don't think I could put thoughts better than you did.

Kevin

Subject: RE: Obit: Diane Easby [borchester echo] (2013)
From: Bonnie Shaljean
Date: 29 Aug 13 - 05:53 AM

Cheers, Kevin - it was great to reconnect with you too. I wish I could delete from my mental screen the image of her mail still lying there untouched three months later - and all that it implies - but I'll probably never quite manage it. Therefore I'm even gladder for the fun memories of our jolly boozy lunch together.

Subject: RE: Obit: Diane Easby [borchester echo] (2013)
From: Bonnie Shaljean
Date: 29 Aug 13 - 06:00 PM

Apart from a few short lines in another forum and on her Facebook page, this thread may be the only "remembrance book" Diane has, or ever will have.

Subject: RE: Obit: Diane Easby [borchester echo] (2013)
From: GUEST
Date: 29 Aug 13 - 09:43 PM

Open, closed
Opened, closed
Opened closed
Do we have a trigger happy Mod here or just some nasty comments?

Sweetums is probably the worst. Wait, no....it can't be. Can it?

She was a nasty bitch in print. Never met her in person but she lied about me, put words in my mouth,claimed I said things I never said, and I had no use for her.

No idea if she 'knew music' or not, but I'm betting that Liz (DCML) wasn't her best friend in spite of what Ms. Liz says....sweetums indeed.

Oh, and see to her cats please? four months after she dies? Cats dead, feral, re-homed. If Liz is such a GOOD friend, why didn't SHE take the poor pusses, or at least know about their homeless-ness sooner? Eh?

Eh? OH...right...it's Lizzie. Sorry. Diane, whoever, whatever you were, I wish you well on your new Journey.

Subject: RE: Obit: Diane Easby [borchester echo] (2013)
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 29 Aug 13 - 10:14 PM

Oh Guest! Please have a care about Diane's friends feelings - whom she is now separated from.

She wasn't my mate. She was the only person I have ever refused to have as a friend on Facebook - I am ashamed to say. I think she could see I was in earnest about music - as much as herself - but she had no appreciation of the dilemma contemporary folk artists found themselves in the seventies - after the English folk clubs had been purged of the hated Yankee influence.

But thats all past and gone - and she was one of our number. She'd sat in the same clubs we had - formed different conclusions.

I know the time to say nice things about one's fellow humans is when they're alive to hear it. But nonetheless - Diana's friends were taking a little comfort from recalling her gentler side. What would it have cost you to let it lie?

Subject: RE: Obit: Diane Easby [borchester echo] (2013)
From: Bryony
Date: 29 Aug 13 - 10:38 PM

Gosh, I am shocked. I did meet Diane a few times as she was a big supporter of The Witches. She certainly knew her stuff and often sent me links to songs and tunes back on the BBC site...many of which were moderated away, much to her fury! How sad that we didn't find out sooner. RIP

Subject: RE: Obit: Diane Easby [borchester echo] (2013)
From: GUEST,Ellen Vannin
Date: 30 Aug 13 - 03:20 AM

Big Al - I think the problem for Diane's friends is that someone is claiming a friendship which did not, in fact, exist, and in terms - 'Sweetums' - which would have made Diane very angry. It's Diane's friends who are protesting against this grotesque behaviour on the part of someone whom Diane could not stand.

Subject: RE: Obit: Diane Easby [borchester echo] (2013)
From: Bonnie Shaljean
Date: 30 Aug 13 - 06:02 AM

What Big Al said. Turned up to eleven.

Guest at 09:43, I realise everyone is entitled to free speech and their own opinions, but you could at least have the basic decency and courage to identify yourself.

Diane's friends were taking a little comfort from recalling her gentler side. What would it have cost you to let it lie?

Re cats, if the police knew in May that she'd died, they would have dealt with it in May. Someone must have had to go into the flat to carry out the necessary procedures, and hungry kitties would have been meowing and leaping at the door. Impossible to miss. I can't believe they were locked back inside unattended afterwards. The RSPCA or somebody would have brought them out and seen them into shelter. Maybe a neighbour even took them in.

Diane did certainly love those cats. They were her constant companions, while it took someone living in Iceland to ask that enquiries be made, when he got no response to constant attempts at communication with her. Think about that.

Please, no more fighting. PLEASE. Points have been raised, points have been answered. Now let it lie, and let Diane lie.

I want to be able to think of this thread as a gathering of friends. Feeling bad enough already.

Subject: RE: Obit: Diane Easby [borchester echo] (2013)
From: The Sandman
Date: 30 Aug 13 - 07:57 AM

well said,Bonnie.
I enjoyed Dianes posts on this forum, I shall miss her.

Subject: RE: Obit: Diane Easby [borchester echo] (2013)
From: GUEST,Ambridge Extra
Date: 30 Aug 13 - 08:21 AM

You know, Diane loved a good scrap. What she hated was bullshit. What she would absolutely loathe if she were here to see it is the sickening fawning of MLC. So in her own words:

"What you refuse to understand is that Beer & Knightley just want you to SHUT UP. What they don't mind is criticism as long as it is informed and music-based. They understand that many (myself among them) far prefer some of their other projects to SoH which continues to strike me as over-produced and a tad bombastic. For this reason I have never seen a SoH set but wish them well and hope they make a living. I've never even met Steve K and have encountered Mr Beer only vaguely at a workshop. Thus, I neither "love" nor "hate" them but have come to admire them as people for enduring so bravely all the shit that MLC hurls their way. Do grow up, fuck off and LEARN SOMETHING before spouting any more drivel."

" 'Diane and I have been joking'

I am not joking. Nor was Phil Beer. Nor Eliza Carthy. Nor many others who don't (yet) say what they think about the embarrassment they suffer from MLC's destructive drivel so very publicly. Music fora are for exchanging information; they are not crazed fanzines. I come here to seek and to impart information on songs and tunes, not to see distasteful crap about "boysies". "

She said a lot more, and a lot more strongly, both in PMs and on threads over the years, but know this: Diane could not stand Lizzie Cornish. She loathed her. And there is nothing that would make her turn in her grave more than this self-serving, attention-seeking post-mortem fawning. Diane would have told MLC to fuck off in no uncertain terms. And I don't care if it makes mods or anyone else uncomfortable: as she isn't here to do it for herself, I am doing it for her.

Wherever you are, Diane: give 'em hell. I'm sorry we all let you down. xx

Subject: RE: Obit: Diane Easby [borchester echo] (2013)
From: GUEST,Silas
Date: 30 Aug 13 - 08:27 AM

Amen to that Bonnie - she was sometimes angry because she was passionate about music. She gave me a right bollocking about a comment I made on the Bulmer/Nic Jones thread a few years ago, but I was actually trying to support her argument at the time!

Subject: RE: Obit: Diane Easby [borchester echo] (2013)
From: Lizzie Cornish 1
Date: 30 Aug 13 - 10:16 AM

"....but know this: Diane could not stand Lizzie Cornish. She loathed her. And there is nothing that would make her turn in her grave more than this self-serving, attention-seeking post-mortem fawning. Diane would have told MLC to fuck off in no uncertain terms. And I don't care if it makes mods or anyone else uncomfortable: as she isn't here to do it for herself, I am doing it for her..."

Well, well, I wondered how long it would be before you turned up again.

Sadly, for you, Diane and I DID write to each other..and I DID send her a get well card whilst she was in hospital recently..and I DID phone up and speak to the nurse on her ward to ask her to let Diane know her cats were being taken care of by some friends of hers who were sorting it all out...and the nurse DID tell me how worried Diane had been about them and now, she felt she'd be able to relax at long last, as she'd been in a real state about them since her admission...

And I DID start the thread asking others to help, as a 'Guest' because of foul folks like you who are so filled with hatred.

I chose not to be like you..

I've also chosen to dwell on the GOOD side of things in here..as have so many others.

Thanks anyway and have a nice day. xx

Subject: RE: Obit: Diane Easby [borchester echo] (2013)
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 30 Aug 13 - 10:33 AM

Sorry, but I can stand it no longer as well.

Lizzie, look at how many time you put 'I did' in your post. It's easy, you put them in caps. It is all about you and what you did. This thread is supposed to be in remembrance of Diane but once again you have tried to make it about you and appropriate it to your own ends.

Luckily I did know Diane on this forum, on others, by many personal mails, by lots of mutual friends and I can confirm what Ambridge Extra says. Your relationship with Diane was all one way. Just like your relationship with Show of Hands and Eliza Carthy. Diane did not want it. She really could not stand you and for you to pretend you had some sort of special relationship is both disrespectful and dishonest.

Please stop it now.

DtG.

Subject: RE: Obit: Diane Easby [borchester echo] (2013)
From: VirginiaTam
Date: 30 Aug 13 - 11:09 AM

This thread is depressing on so many levels.

Subject: RE: Obit: Diane Easby [borchester echo] (2013)
From: GUEST,Ralphie
Date: 30 Aug 13 - 11:21 AM

Lizzie. Stop digging. Nobody appreciates your rants. Having had many a conversation with Diane regarding you, I couldn't type her opinion of you and your attitudes. I'd be banned in perpetuity. Best to leave it, don't you think? Just a thought. She was 50 times the woman you'll ever be.

Subject: RE: Obit: Diane Easby [borchester echo] (2013)
From: GUEST,punkfolkrocker
Date: 30 Aug 13 - 11:50 AM

.... so, I'm returning from a year of self imposed exile.

I never knew or corresponded with Diane Easby
but actually feel some kind of sentimental loss.

I greatly admired and envied her abrasive wit and searing intellect.

I always entertained the idle notion
that if I ever did get round to posting any self produced recordings,
Her's would be the opinion/criticism I'd most respect and value..

no matter how scathing.........

Subject: RE: Obit: Diane Easby [borchester echo] (2013)
From: Rain Dog
Date: 30 Aug 13 - 12:28 PM

I first encountered Diane on the BBC Folk board which in turn led me to this place. We exchanged a few pms here, especially in 2004 when she was not able to take up my offer of a ticket to see a certain performer in Hammersmith. I enjoyed reading most of her posts and will miss her from the various boards.

Subject: RE: Obit: Diane Easby [borchester echo] (2013)
From: Bonnie Shaljean
Date: 30 Aug 13 - 12:29 PM

You guys know what I did this afternoon? I went out into the back field and planted blooming fuchsia and lemon balm and lavender. Now my garden is beautiful. My mind's in a lot better shape too.

When twilight comes I'm going to sit out there with a cool drink and watch the sunset and raise a parting glass.

Subject: RE: Obit: Diane Easby [borchester echo] (2013)
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Aug 13 - 12:34 PM

Very nice, Bonnie!

Subject: RE: Obit: Diane Easby [borchester echo] (2013)
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 30 Aug 13 - 12:35 PM

Well done and said, Bonnie. I haven't planted anything as our back is full of builders rubble (Don't ask!) but I will still raise a glass and start plans for the walk Diane and I talked about long ago.

Cheers

DtG

Subject: RE: Obit: Diane Easby [borchester echo] (2013)
From: Dave Roberts
Date: 30 Aug 13 - 01:21 PM

RIP Diane. It's such a pity that some have chosen an obituary thread of all things, to try to score points against Lizzie, who is merely trying in her own way to pay tribute to Diane. Those involved should be deeply deeply ashamed of themselves. Please don't bother with any self-righteous justifications. Once I've typed this I'm out of here once again. This thread has become very depressing indeed. I never, despite my long experience of the bad side of Mudcat, expected that anyone would stoop so low.

Subject: RE: Obit: Diane Easby [borchester echo] (2013)
From: GUEST,Morris-ey
Date: 30 Aug 13 - 01:36 PM

Diane and I did not always agree but she had some integrity and I am saddened at her death.

Subject: RE: Obit: Diane Easby [borchester echo] (2013)
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Aug 13 - 02:06 PM

This thread is a hot mess. I never crossed swords with Easby, but one has to feel a bit sorry for her after the not-so-tender ministrations she has received in this discussion. It falls into the "add insult to injury" category.

SRS

Subject: RE: Obit: Diane Easby [borchester echo] (2013)
From: GUEST,CS
Date: 30 Aug 13 - 02:31 PM

I liked Diane's posts, I found her acerbic, informed and interesting.
I'm saddened to see another MC character gone.

Subject: RE: Obit: Diane Easby [borchester echo] (2013)
From: GUEST
Date: 30 Aug 13 - 02:49 PM

I felt most honoured the evening she came totally unannounced to the folk club I used to run.She was generous in her praise and that meant a lot.

thanks Diane

She was of a rare breed and is already missed by many.

Subject: RE: Obit: Diane Easby [borchester echo] (2013)
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 30 Aug 13 - 03:00 PM

I was just looking through my PM Archive at a message from Diane on May 25th 2010, the last one in fact, about 60s/70s writers, the last line made me burst out laughing,
' Colin Irwin is a twat, the people of Minehead collectively hate him because he said he " couldn't find " The Hobby Horse. '

How can you not love someone who still makes you laugh after they have gone, beautiful.

I wish she was still with us.

Dave H

Subject: RE: Obit: Diane Easby [borchester echo] (2013)
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 30 Aug 13 - 03:38 PM

Perfect story Dave H. Absolutely sums Diane up to a T.

The other Dave, whoever you are, I am glad you are off this thread. Or, in words Diane would approve of, Fuck off.

Maggie - I did warn you.

Cheers

DtG

Subject: RE: Obit: Diane Easby [borchester echo] (2013)
From: Jean(eanjay)
Date: 30 Aug 13 - 05:50 PM

So sorry to hear this sad news.

Subject: RE: Obit: Diane Easby [borchester echo] (2013)
From: The Sandman
Date: 30 Aug 13 - 08:49 PM

I miss Diane Easby.
I have no objection to any of Lizzies postings. What I find annoying are anonymous poster/ posters, who come on to this thread to cause trouble, please show some respect, this is an obituary thread.