And there's Sandy, sometimes he's a girl, sometimes she's a man

[venta]

A month or so ago, enthusiasts for traditional folk-singing all over the world collectively mourned the death of Louisa Jo Killen. She had been singing traditional songs - to great acclaim - since the 1950s

Comments

[bopeepsheep]

Jan Morris's achievements as James are usually written about using 'she' and 'her' and I imagine the Obit writers will have worked this out a long time ago - Morris transitioned in 1972, so obits will have been written since (although including achievements before that). I wouldn't be too surprised if Killen's had been written and filed away more than three years ago, hence the tack-on rather than rewriting.

[venta]

filed away more than three years ago, hence the tack-on rather than rewriting

I actually - foolishly - hadn't thought of that. I guess now that publications are online, you want to be the first up there with an obit, but I would still have thought it was worth spending an hour re-writing.

I actually think it'd be less tricky to write an obit of someone who'd transitioned some time before their death, and had continued achievements in the same field. Presumably, people who were interested in James' work would also be interested in Jan's work, and would be more aware. Whereas I think it'd be very possible for someone who was a fan of Louis Killen not to have heard of Louisa Jo.

[bopeepsheep]

Yes, I suspect it's much less tricky - particularly with things like albums that you might buy 35+ years after the recording was made, you could be extremely familiar with a person's entire career and still not have a clue what they did recently, if it didn't involve a release or a tour.

[venta]

According to Wikipedia, it looks like you're right - though I have no memory of that from seeing the film (once, a long time ago).

I certainly know of at least one other folk singer who's successfully continued the career she started as a man. Her web page just lists her credentials (played with x, performed at y, etc) without mentioning that some of them were under a different name. Which is perfectly reasonable, I would say (though potentially confusing for readers).

[undyingking]

Opens a series of large questions about the purpose(s) of obituaries… and their different audiences.

I think I would stick with the later gender throughout, but having made it clear at the beginning that a different gender actually applied for the earlier part of the tale. I can live with the awkwardness of 'her ex-wives' etc in exchange for that.

[exspelunca]

English Dance and Song headlines the obit (by Derek Schofield) "Louisa Killen Remembered", with a large colour pic of Louisa Jo. Lower down the page is Louis singing in 1962 and two more of him on the following page. Because of the late gender reassignment, which does make it more complicated than usual, most of the obit is about Louis and uses his/him. Then follow reminiscences from other folksingers, in the gender relative to the memories, except for Sandra Kerr who writes about "Lou" throughout, never using a pronoun, and she is writing only about one particular song. To be fair, EDS is addressing those who'd be familiar with the situation anyway.

[lathany]

I wouldn't - 'cos of all the bear traps. I'd wait and see how other people handled it (which is a cop out, I know, but true).