My sister just died - Sarah Bryan Miller, Jan. 1952 to Nov. 2020

[pukematrix]

So sorry to hear of Bryan's passing, Wade. As others have said, wonderful tribute, both by you and by her friends at the Post-Dispatch.

Best to you and the family.

Austin

[Earl49]

Condolences is such an inadequate word, Wade. But we know that she is no longer fighting the "C" demon and has gone on to her greater reward. Take comfort in that. What a lovely tribute. Each of us can only hope that someone will remember us that fondly when our time comes.

[patchmcg]

Words always fail me at times like these Wade. I pray that she rests in peace, and offer my sincere condolences to you and your family.

[J Patrick]

...That is such a wonderful memorial you wrote up for your sister Wade....thanks for posting it here...

[TomB'sox]

That was a great write-up Wade. I feel I knew your sister and I am pretty sure I would have liked her!

[Kerbie]

I'm so sorry for your loss, Wade. She sounds quite a lady and I'm sure she'll be missed. I'll keep you and your family in my thoughts.

[Slothead56]

Sorry for your loss Wade. She led an extraordinary life from what you posted.

Jamie

[12barBill]

That was a fine tribute and interesting insight into Bryan's life and character. I know she will be missed. Thoughts and prayers to you and your family Wade.

[rmp]

My heart felt condolences Wade, the loss of a sibling is a hard one to get through.

[Wade Hampton]

Bob wrote:

Originally Posted by Bob Womack

My deep condolences on the loss of your sister, Wade. From your write-up and the others she sounds like a fascinating woman!

Thanks. She was. She could also be an incredible pain in the butt, but I think all adult siblings have their struggles with each other. Familial love, common but difficult at the same time.

Originally Posted by Bob Womack

Oh, by the way, the Lyric Opera wasn't the only outfit to dismiss Kathline Battle... the Metropolitan Opera did as well. In the biz you hear a lot if you put your ear to the rails. When she was scheduled to appear here a while back there were technical people at venues where she just worked calling to here to warn of her antics. In the professional world, THAT is quite a reputation.

Right. The Lyric fired her first, then the Met followed suit. Once those big boys had weighed in, it cascaded from there with opera companies all over firing Battle, all of them aggrieved by her consistently egregious behavior.

Which, given how peremptory most opera stars are, is really something. Battle was and presumably still is a deeply abusive person.

Some of the big opera singers are loved, though, especially Thomas Hampson, referred to by the mesmerized women of the chorus as "Thomas Handsome." They all love him.

Not Kiri Te Kanawa, though. I mean, she was nowhere nearly as repellent as Katherine Battle, but Bryan said Te Kanawa is dumber than a barrel of hair. She can't remember her lyrics, either: on the back of every piece of theatrical scenery onstage her lines were written so she can look over and get a prompt that she otherwise wouldn't remember.

Then somewhere in the western edges of South Carolina, hubcap wrote:

Originally Posted by hubcapsc

Sorry for your loss... my 85 yo Uncle passed in November and
we're working hard to console and help my 83 yo Aunt through it.

I always wondered if you had SC roots... I went to Wade Hampton
High School in the Wade Hampton district of Greenville SC.

So what are the mascots and football teams from that school called? The Wade Hampton Hand Servants? The Wade Hampton Un-Reconstructed Plucky Rebels?

Yeah, in South Carolina whenever they need to name something they'll just name it after him. I know people who were born in the Wade Hampton hospital, and there's a Wade Hampton Highway and God knows what else.

Get this: when I first moved to Alaska and until about four years ago, the poorest part of the state was called The Wade Hampton Census District. In a state that he never visited.

Figure THAT one out.

For years now my longtime bassplayer Karl has bantered with me as we were getting set up to play, and if he'd zinged me really good and I had no immediate response, I'd say: "Naming no names, but some people are just deeply jealous that there's no Karl Wilhelmi District in the state of Alaska..."

At the Citadel, the military college of South Carolina where I attended for a year, there's an enormous mural of the general leading the Citadel cadets into battle as a unit in the Confederate Army. It was one of those battles where Wade Hampton escaped without so much as a singed whisker but the cadets got their butts shot off.

I had to do lots of extra pushups for that inconvenient history, let's leave it at that.

I am related to him, although I'm not directly named for the Confederate general. I'm named after my great-great-grandfather Thomas Wade Hampton Miller the first, who was a cousin of the general. They were named after the same kinsman, the general's father and my ancestor's grandfather. I think that makes them first cousins once removed or something.

Anyway, all that "moonlight and magnolias" Old South stuff aside, I want to thank all of you for your kindness. I appreciate it.

Then Tom wrote:

Originally Posted by TomB'sox

That was a great write-up Wade. I feel I knew your sister and I am pretty sure I would have liked her!

Don't immediately presume that, Tom! She could be very prickly, and if you had a different opinion than she had about something she would immediately let you know, citing chapter and verse and pointing out precisely where your arguments failed to measure up.

Because in her mind she was right (always,) and you were wrong (usually.)

That's a professional asset in her career field, but deeply irritating if you're sitting around the dinner table talking about life and family matters.

Fortunately, she and I agreed on most things.

But our mother was a direct descendant of Henry of Navarre, the first Bourbon king of France who became Henri IV, and thus so are we. Bryan never forgot that, and it informed her worldview.

She was a natural born elitist and I'm the egalitarian one, a basic difference between us that showed up as soon we both could talk. I was the sunny one who'd make friends with all the kids and all the dogs wherever we were, but Bryan held herself above all that. Always did, and never changed.

So in that sense we were two sides of the same coin.

Here's something guitar-related: Bryan taught herself how to play guitar when she was ten, and actually built a guitar from a kit a few years after that. She got herself a Swedish-made Goya in high school and was still playing it in adulthood, but asked me to find her a better one.

So I called Wayne Henderson and had him make her a 12 fret Double O and me a 12 fret Triple O, both with cedar tops and koa backs and sides. Bryan wanted a a neck with the same profile as her Goya, so that's what Wayne built for her.

She loved it, but years later once her cancer kicked in she had to get some funds for her steep medical co-pays, so she asked me to sell it for her. I put it up for sale on consignment at Elderly Instruments.

Fortunately, that silly fanboy book about Wayne had been published by then, Clapton's Guitar, which raved about Wayne as a sawdust covered god who walks among us - the Stradivarius of the Acoustic Steel String Guitar! - building the best guitars in the world using nothing but a pocket knife! Enough people believed that silliness that the market value of Henderson guitars soared, and she was able to get back a lot more money out of the guitar than she'd put into it.

Whereas when I tried to sell my Henderson guitar ten years prior I practically had to GIVE it away. Wayne's guitars made during the period he built mine had lots of necks go bad, and most players who had heard about Henderson guitars by that point also knew the reputation they had for needing neck re-sets, too.

But...but...but he's the Stradivarius of the Acoustic Steel String Guitar! Does it all with a pocket knife!! He's the best guitarbuilder in the world and can do it with his eyes closed and one hand tied behind his back!!!

Sheesh....

Speaking of Bryan as a guitarist, since this is an acoustic guitar forum, her longtime strings of choice were silk and steel. But when she got the Henderson I gave her a set of the John Pearse Phosphor Bronze and Silk.

She became an instant convert, and never used any other strings from that point forward. The Pearse version of silk and steel last a lot longer than the traditional versions do.

Moving on, Bryan was a very intelligent and resourceful woman. She was pretty as a girl and young woman, as you can see in the photos, and it was so hard to see her decline and get so frail the way she did.

But at least her hair had grown back in when she left us, as you can see in that last photo, so she met the Grim Reaper with her hair on.

Something that both my sister and I got a kick out of as we entered our fifties: natural blonds like us ENJOY going grey, because it makes us look even blonder!

Ah, what a silly thing to say in a thread dedicated to my sister, but it's true, and we both got a kick out of it.

She was such a character....

With a death like this grief is a deeply complex process, and there's laughter and anger and sheer sadness that will well up within you, and you'll never know when a wave of one of those forms is going to rise and whack you so hard that it's like your legs being kicked out from under you.

So you deal with it the best you can.


Wade Hampton Miller

[Wade Hampton]

Incidentally, I was doing a Google search on my sister, and earlier today an article about her was posted on some sort of news website in Swahili!

Anybody understand Swahili?

Even if you don't, if you can tell me how to get in and look at the article, I'd appreciate it. I don't seem to be able to open it.

https://sw.news.colma.do/sarah-bryan...mbi-wa-michezo

Thanks in advance.


whm

[srick]

Originally Posted by Wade Hampton

With a death like this grief is a deeply complex process, and there's laughter and anger and sheer sadness that will well up within you, and you'll never know when a wave of one of those forms is going to rise and whack you so hard that it's like your legs being kicked out from under you.

So you deal with it the best you can.

So sorry for your loss Wade - these words about grief really do nail it. And all we can do is keep walking forward. Wishing you health and healing.

best,

Rick

[Silly Moustache]

Hi Wade, I too am sorry for your loss. For Bryan, no more pain and illness. Celebrate that.

[Bill R]

My sincere condolences on your sister's passing. By all accounts she had a remarkable life. Thank you for sharing this small part of her life story.

Best wishes,

Bill

[Acousticado]

What a nice, honest tribute, Wade! There sure is a LOT of talent between the two of you. I’m sure you’re hurting...you sure have much to remember Bryan by. Hopefully, you’ll find comfort in that. Be well!