Kathi Kamen Goldmark, novelist, publishing veteran, and heart and soul of the Rock Bottom Remainders, died yesterday after fighting cancer for two years. Her spirit and energy proved the existence of the opposite of black holes in this Universe, because if there is not a white hole somewhere in the heavens filled with her light and the best group of sessions musicians who ever jammed in the hereafter, then there is no justice.
Kathi's star shined brighter than words can say. I know I am a different and better person for having known Kathi Kamen Goldmark--and I am part of a huge constellation of people who feel blessed to be part of that club.
A similar sentiment was echoed last night by many who gathered at the San Francisco home Kathi shared with her husband, Sam Barry. Sam's older brother is bestselling author Dave Barry, whom Kathi recruited to form the Rock Bottom Remainders from a group of scribes (Amy Tan, Stephen King, Matt Groening and Scott Turow among them) she met while working as a literary escort. When Sam and Kathi married in 2009, it was one of the truly great things to come out of a band that never claimed to be great--though over 20 years, it has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for literacy.
Kathi had a way of getting people to come together--and trying new things.
Tan, who was among the family and friends with Kathi when she died, has said she could never have imagined herself being part of a rock band without her. Last night Tan and I recalled how she honored Kathi in 2008 as she won the Women's National Book Association Award: Kathi's favorite words, she told the crowd, are, 'Hey, do you wanna..."
Kathi lived and worked with that "hey, do you wanna" attitude, accomplishing so much as a musician, songwriter, radio producer--and, finally, as a novelist. I had the privilege of covering many of Kathi's professional triumphs, and I remember when she sheepishly called me to talk about her novel And My Shoes Keep Walking Back to You (Chronicle, 2002). So many authors wanted to blurb Kathi that we joked that she might need a gatefold to fit them all.
In 2010, Adams Media published Write That Book Already!: The Tough Love You Need to Get Published Now, which Kathi and Sam wrote together. She pushed people to push their own envelopes--but to not take themselves too seriously, either.
So for those of us who were ever touched by Kathi, encouraged by Kathi or cannot even imagine the next publishing party without her, here is a video of her singing a song she wrote called "Older Than Him" (which she affectionately dubbed "The Slut Song"). --Bridget Kinsella