Laura Smith
1952-2020
Laura Smith passed away peacefully at home in Mahone Bay on March 7,
2020. She was surrounded by her family of friends, with love and
music.
Laura Susan Smith was born Meredith Susan Battey to Wilma Blaikie at
St. Joseph’s Hospital in London, Ont., March 18, 1952 and put into
foster care. Later she was adopted by Adrian Clarence Smith and Edythe
May Smith. She had adoptive siblings, David and Adrienne. In 1999 she
found members of her birth family in a reunion that she described as
“extraordinary and joyous.”
Laura grew up in London loving horses, theatre and poetry. She began
to play music at age 19, first teaching herself piano chords, then
guitar. Her public debut performance occurred at Smale’s Pace, the
London coffee house where she worked as a waitress. Laura moved to
Toronto in 1975, staying for 10 years before a definitive move to Cape
Breton in 1984. The rugged landscape, shifting ocean, moon-filled
nights and welcoming community made her feel she had come home.
Playing at ceilidhs, she blossomed in the nurturing atmosphere, not
only with her music, but also on stage with the St. Ann’s Bay Players.
She moved to Halifax four years later where she frequently performed
at open mic night in the Flamingo Club. Thanks to support from CBC,
she recorded her first, self-titled album in 1989. This was followed
by B’tween the Earth and My Soul recorded in 1995. The stunning result
ignited a blaze of radio and television appearances, a tour and a
plethora of special performances. In 1996, she won two East Coast
Music Awards and two Juno nominations. In 1997, she won a Gemini Award
for Best Performance in a Performing Arts Program or Series. At the
request of CBC radio personality, Peter Gzowski, who was receiving a
Governor’s General Award, she performed My Bonny at the prestigious
Ottawa ceremony. She also released her third album, It’s A Personal
Thing that year to six ECMA nominations.
In May 2003, Laura received an Honorary Doctorate in Humanities from
Mount Saint Vincent University on the strength of her songwriting.
When time allowed she also started working towards her Music Therapy
degree at Acadia University.
After a struggle from an injury, Laura Smith, brave and surfacing,
returned into the stream of her songwriting and performing life with
the release of Everything Is Moving in 2013.
A private person, despite her outgoing and often wickedly funny stage
presence, Laura delighted in preparing gourmet food for friends. She
collected vintage linens, loved her dog Diva and often cared for the
pets of friends around the province. In recent years, with dedication
and attention to detail, she crafted her daily Dear Merebeth poems and
accompanied them with her vivid paintings.
She wrote: “I remember once ‘coming to’, as if from a dream,
whilst in the middle of creating a piece of visual art… I was
startled by the realization that I was in the same place songs come
from! Yes, it did seem like a real ‘place’ – a place I’d been longing
for as I’d not been able to compose. It was so comforting to find
another route ‘in’. To say I cherish my times creating is an
understatement.
Expressing the who, what, when, where and why of life takes reflection
but at the same time, for me at least, seems to require one work only
in the present tense, guided by a connection to everyone else in this
world, to achieve a satisfying outcome. Anything else is just
accounting.”
Laura will be remembered by her friends and her devoted fans, too
numerous to count; all those whose hearts and souls were stirred by
her songwriting and her full, rich voice.
She faced her cancer with her indomitable sense of humour, never at
war with the disease, but instead determined to be at peace with it.
It was a peace that she shared with all who visited in her last
months. She always had a smile for each.
Thanks go to the Palliative Care Team of Dr. Debra Gowan and Melanie
Spence RN; Trudy Johnson of the South Shore Hospice Palliative Care
Society; Dr. Daniel Rayson, Oncologist and his staff; the staff of
Fisherman’s Memorial Hospital in particular Kevin Grandy RN; the
incredible caregivers of Earth Angels and the EMTs of Emergency Health
Services. Your support and compassion were a great comfort to Laura in
her time of need.
Special thanks also go out to those friends who gave so much of
themselves in the last few months. While they are too numerous to note
entirely, these include her long-time friends and confidants Ross
MacDonald and Virginia Bell; her constant companion, Joanne
Purchase-Renaud, musical collaborators, Kim Dunn and Bruce Dixon, Erin
Donovan and John Adams, Chris Heide and Deborah Hickman, Laurie
Flavin, Lorraine Burch and the Team Tata road warriors.
There will be a wake and funeral at the Mahone Bay Centre, 45 School
St., Mahone Bay. The wake will be held Friday, March 13th 2020 from
4-7 p.m. and Saturday March 14th 2020, from 2-4 p.m. followed by the
funeral at 5 p.m. Saturday. All are welcome.
Laura’s life and music will be celebrated at a concert on March 29th
at Casino Nova Scotia. Sincere thanks to the many talented musicians
taking part.
Donations in Laura’s memory can be made to the South Shore Hospice
Palliative Care Society or to hospice care in your own community.
“Safe home, sweet light, no longer shining here, on wings, safe
and sound, are you carried.
No longer casting shadows, no longer counting days,
you are love and you are loved, always.” Laura Smith.
Please forward your donation directly to:
South Shore Hospice Palliative Care Society,
100 High St.-Suite 159, Bridgewater, NS B4V 1V9
Tel: 902-688-2958 Web: www.southshorehospice.ca Email:
southshorehpcs@gmail.com
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Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Laura Smith 19522020..
Death notice for the town of: Mahone-Bay, Province: Nova Scotia