Katie Lee (October 23, 1919 – November 1, 2017) was an American

folk singer Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

, actress, writer, photographer and

environmental activist The environmental movement (sometimes referred to as the ecology movement), also including conservation and green politics, is a diverse philosophical, social, and political movement for addressing environmental issues. Environmentalists advo ...

. From the 1950s, Lee often sang about rivers and

white water rafting Rafting and whitewater rafting are recreational outdoor activities which use an inflatable raft to navigate a river or other body of water. This is often done on whitewater or different degrees of rough water. Dealing with risk is often a ...

. She was a vocal opponent of Glen Canyon Dam, which closed its gates in 1963, and called for the canyon to be returned to its natural state; for her environmental activism, was often called "the Desert Goddess of Glen Canyon." Her obituary in ''The New York Times'' states, "Ms. Lee never forgave the builders of the Glen Canyon Dam and said the only thing that prevented her from blowing it up was that she did not know how."Sandomir, Richard
"Katie Lee, Folk Singer Who Fought to Protect a Canyon, Dies at 98"
''The New York Times'', November 13, 2017, p. B7

Early life

Kathryn Louise Lee was born in Aledo, Illinois on October 23, 1919 to decorator Ruth (Detwiler) and architect and homebuilder Zanna Lee. When she was three months old, her family moved to

Tucson, Arizona , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

. She graduated from the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...

with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Drama. Following her graduation, she left for Hollywood where she studied with two of the most successful folksingers of the 1940s,

Burl Ives Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives (June 14, 1909 – April 14, 1995) was an American musician, actor, and author with a career that spanned more than six decades. Ives began his career as an itinerant singer and guitarist, eventually launching his own rad ...

and

Josh White Joshua Daniel White (February 11, 1914 – September 5, 1969) was an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor and civil rights activist. He also recorded under the names Pinewood Tom and Tippy Barton in the 1930s. White grew up in the Sout ...

Folk singer and author

Lee's early

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

albums, ''Songs of Couch and Consultation'' (1957) and ''Life Is Just a Bed of Neuroses'' (1960), parody the rising popularity of

psychoanalysis PsychoanalysisFrom Greek: + . is a set of theories and therapeutic techniques"What is psychoanalysis? Of course, one is supposed to answer that it is many things — a theory, a research method, a therapy, a body of knowledge. In what might b ...

at the time."Katie Lee"
''Space Age Pop''. Archived November 22, 2017. Both albums have long been out of print, but six of her later CDs remain available. She also released three videos, including ''Love Song to Glen Canyon'' (DVD, 2007). In 1964, Lee released an album on Folkways Records, entitled ''Folk Songs of the Colorado River.'' In the 1980s, she recorded a cassette-only release, ''Colorado River Songs'', consisting of old songs popular among river runners on the

Colorado River The Colorado River ( es, Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The river drains an expansive, arid watershed that encompasses parts of seven U.S. s ...

and the Grand Canyon, and some original compositions. This release was hailed by

Edward Abbey Edward Paul Abbey (January 29, 1927 – March 14, 1989) was an American author, essayist, and environmental activist noted for his advocacy of environmental issues and criticism of public land policies. His best-known works include '' Desert S ...

and

David Foreman William David Foreman (October 18, 1946 – September 19, 2022) was an American environmentalist and author, he was a co-founder of Earth First! and a prominent member of the radical environmentalism movement. Early life and education William ...

, among others. ''Colorado River Songs'' was expanded to include more songs and re-released in 1997 on CD. She released ''Glen Canyon River Journeys'' on CD, which mixes music and her narration. She also was featured on the 2005

Smithsonian Folkways Smithsonian Folkways is the nonprofit record label of the Smithsonian Institution. It is a part of the Smithsonian's Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, located at Capital Gallery in downtown Washington, D.C. The label was fo ...

compilation album, ''Songs and Stories from Grand Canyon.'' In October 2011, Katie Lee was inducted into the Arizona Music Hall of Fame. She authored five books. ''Ten Thousand Goddam Cattle: A History of the American Cowboy in Song, Story and Verse'' (1976) is a study of the music, stories, and poetry of the American cowboy, later recorded as an album with Travis Edmonson."Glen Canyon's 'goddess' Katie Lee passes at 98"
''Grand Canyon News'', November 14, 2017. Archived November 22, 2017. ''Sandstone Seduction'', a 2004 memoir, relates Lee's continuing love affair with desert rivers and canyons, and discusses her

Lady Godiva Lady Godiva (; died between 1066 and 1086), in Old English , was a late Anglo-Saxon noblewoman who is relatively well documented as the wife of Leofric, Earl of Mercia, and a patron of various churches and monasteries. Today, she is mainly re ...

-style bicycle ride through downtown

Jerome, Arizona Jerome is a town in the Black Hills of Yavapai County in the U.S. state of Arizona. Founded in the late 19th century on Cleopatra Hill overlooking the Verde Valley, Jerome is located more than above sea level. It is about north of Phoenix alo ...

, where she lived. Lee donated her extraordinary collection of photographs, writings, songs and music, letters, and journals to the Cline Library Special Collections and Archives at Northern Arizona University. Lee published music and books under the label Katydid Books and Music.

Environmental activism

Lee was known for her activism against the damming of rivers, and particularly her opposition to Glen Canyon Dam in Northern Arizona, which opened in 1963. After joining a

rafting Rafting and whitewater rafting are recreational outdoor activities which use an inflatable raft to navigate a river or other body of water. This is often done on whitewater or different degrees of rough water. Dealing with risk is often a ...

trip in the Grand Canyon in 1953, she became a regular on river trips on the

and joined the opposition to the construction of Glen Canyon Dam.Gillian Ferris (2017
"Katie Lee, 'Goddess of Glen Canyon,' Dies at Age 98"
KNAU Arizona Public Radio, November 1, 2017. In September and October 1955, Tad Nichols, Frank Wright, and she traveled through and documented parts of the canyon that later were to be submerged. This threesome named at least 25 of the side canyons they explored in Glen Canyon. Lee's campaign to protect the canyon included a one-woman protest exhibition of photographs where she posed naked among the canyon's landscape. Her protest was featured in books and folk songs she authored. "When they drowned that place, they drowned my whole guts", Lee said in a 2010 interview. "And I will never forgive the bastards. May they rot in hell." For her environmental activism, Lee was often described as "the Goddess of Glen Canyon." Lee was a member of the Advisory Board of the Glen Canyon Institute which is a non-profit organization dedicated to the restoration of Glen Canyon and a free flowing Colorado River.

Personal life

Records indicate that Lee seems to have been married three times. She was first married to Charles Eld, who was mentioned in her book ''Sandstone Seduction.'' She wrote that she "...went to work for the war effort at Davis Monthan Field, married a shavetail in '42, got pregnant, had a son, ndgot divorced in '45." This son is identified as Ronald Eld in the ''New York Times'' obituary from November 10, 2017. Charles was awarded full custody of Ronald in 1950. A son is mentioned (not by name) briefly with some regret, as 10 years old in her journal from the 1954 trip. There are pictures of Katie and a young "Ronnie" in the NAU Cline Library Colorado Plateau digital archives. The N.Y. Times obituary mentions a second husband named Eugene Busch (sic), Jr. An article in the Arizona Daily Star on June 16, 2015 includes a reprint of an article from 1959 where Mrs. Gene Bush (Katie) is interviewed in Holmdel NJ. Katie married Bush in 1958. The marriage lasted 3 years and then Katie moved to Aspen, Colorado from New Jersey in 1961. She met her "last and best husband", Edwin Carl "Brandy" Brandelius, Jr. — to whom her book ''Sandstone Seduction'' is dedicated — on a trip to

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

. in 1968. Brandy had an emphysema and was staying at this location in Mexico when the two met. When they married Katie Lee became the step-mother to "Brandy's" children Jerilyn Lee Brandelius, Ken, Susie and John Brandelius. Brandy was a war veteran, a race car driver, announcer, and good friend of

Turk Murphy Melvin Edward Alton "Turk" Murphy (December 16, 1915 – May 30, 1987) was an American trombonist and bandleader, who played traditional and Dixieland jazz. Biography He was born in Palermo, California, United States. Murphy served in the Nav ...

. Lee noted Brandy as the prime influence on finishing and publishing her first book, ''Ten Thousand Goddam Cattle''. Brandy died in 1973 while they were married. Lee lived in

from 1971 until her death in 2017; she died in her sleep at her home there on November 1, 2017, aged 98.Dan Engler and Vyto Starinska (2017
"Arizona icon, Jerome's Katie Lee, dies at age 98"
''Verde Independent'', November 1, 2017; archived November 2, 2017. Lee's partner, Joey van Leeuwen, whom she met in 1979 in Australia while on a round-the-world trip, committed suicide the day after her death. Katie and Joey were cremated and their ashes were scattered on the San Juan River.

Popular culture

Chronicles of Lee's adventures in

appear in the book ''Almost An Island'' by Bruce Berger. In 2016, a short documentary entitled ''Kickass Katie Lee'' was screened at

Telluride Mountainfilm Held every Memorial Day weekend since 1979, Mountainfilm is a documentary film festival that showcases nonfiction stories about environmental, cultural, climbing, political and social justice issues in Telluride, Colorado. In 2000, Mountainfilm s ...

, a documentary film festival where Lee was a regular guest."Remembering Katie, Fred and Ross"

official website. November 6, 2017. Archived November 22, 2017. Lee featured prominently in "Cry Me A River", a radio episode by The Kitchen Sisters, which explored the damming of American rivers. Lee's song, "Gunslinger", from ''Songs of Couch and Consultation'', was translated to Swedish in 1965 and was recorded by

Per Myrberg Per is a Latin preposition which means "through" or "for each", as in per capita. Per or PER may also refer to: Places * IOC country code for Peru * Pér, a village in Hungary * Chapman code for Perthshire, historic county in Scotland Mat ...

as "Skjutgalen". It also was recorded by the

Limeliters The Limeliters are an American folk music group, formed in July 1959 by Lou Gottlieb (bass violin/bass), Alex Hassilev (banjo/baritone), and Glenn Yarbrough (guitar/tenor). The group was active from 1959 until 1965, and then after a hiatus of ...

on their 1961 album,

The Slightly Fabulous Limeliters ''The Slightly Fabulous Limeliters'' is a live album by the American folk music group, The Limeliters, a trio made up of Lou Gottlieb, Alex Hassilev, and Glenn Yarbrough.It was recorded in Berkeley, California and released in 1961 on the RCA Vic ...

. This may still be available on a BMG Collectibles CD.

Utah Phillips Bruce Duncan "Utah" Phillips (May 15, 1935 – May 23, 2008)
, KVMR, Nevada City, California, May 24, 2008. Retrieved 24 May 2008 ...

praised Katie Lee and ''Songs of Couch and Consultation'' on the 1996 album, ''

The Past Didn't Go Anywhere ''The Past Didn't Go Anywhere'' is an album by American folksinger Utah Phillips and American singer-songwriter Ani DiFranco, released October 15, 1996, on DiFranco's label, Righteous Babe Records. On the album Phillips is recorded telling sto ...

'' on the track, "Half a Ghost Town".

Discography

Studio albums

* ''Spicy Songs for Cool Knights'' (1956) * ''Songs Of Couch And Consultation'' (1957) * ''Life Is Just A Bed Of Neuroses'' (1960) * ''Folk Songs of the Colorado River'' (1964) * ''Love's Little Sisters'' (1975) * ''Colorado River Songs'' (1976) * ''Ten Thousand Goddam Cattle'' (1977) * ''Fenced!'' (1978) * ''His Knibbs and the Badger'' (1992, with Ed Stabler) * ''Glen Canyon River Journeys'' (1998) * ''Folksongs from the Fifties'' (2009)

Live albums

* ''The Best of Katie Lee: Live at the Troubadour'' (1962)

Bibliography

Lee published five books:Corina Vanek (2017
"Singer, Arizona activist Katie Lee dies at 98"
''Arizona Daily Sun''. November 1, 2017. Archived November 2, 2017. * ''Ten Thousand Goddam Cattle: A History of the American Cowboy in Song, Story & Verse'' (1976) * ''All My Rivers are Gone: A Journey of Discovery through Glen Canyon'' (1998) * ''Sandstone Seduction: Rivers and Lovers, Canyons and Friends'' (2004) * ''Ballad Of Gutless Ditch'' (2010) * ''The Ghosts of Dandy Crossing'' (2014)

References

Notes

References

External links

KatyDoodIt.com
Katie Lee's official website
NPR interview
audio
tribute
Northern Arizona University, Katie Lee: Goddess of Glen Canyon, 1919–2017
Katie Lee page
Glen Canyon Institute {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Katie (singer) 1919 births 2017 deaths American women singers Early Grand Canyon river runners Musicians from Tucson, Arizona Folk music of the American Southwest People from Jerome, Arizona Singers from Arizona University of Arizona alumni Writers from Tucson, Arizona 21st-century American women