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October 18, 1947 – April 8, 1997
If Laura's life were to be represented in a painting, it would have to be a mural, one shared by artists such as Chagall (the lightness and flow of her), Picasso or Braque (the fractured struggles she endured in the world of the music industry), Gauguin (for her luscious sensuality), Rousseau ( for her awareness of the mystery of creation itself), and Picasso, once again, (for the fury and anger she felt at social injustice and abuse.
Her music, her songs, are a complete representation of Laura. She held nothing back in her art. She said later in life that, songwriting was for her, "like flying". "In songwriting I know no limitations." Imagine that concept. The very private Laura Nyro bared her heart and soul through her work, and offered it and herself to the world through music. That is why when questions have been asked, I suggest listening, really listening, to Laura's work. The answers lie there and nowhere else.
Laura defied categorization both in her work and in her life. She broke all the rules as needed for her art, and as needed to keep art a palpable constant in her day-to-day. This desire to "live a life with art in it", was the highest and hardest goal that she ever set for herself when so much of everyday life is anything but artistic. Nonetheless, this desire informed her choices, both personal and professional, and they punctuated the ongoing dialogue that we as friends shared for 25 years.
Laura was someone hungry for it all in life. She wanted her art, her poetry, her work, respect from business dealings, a child, a family, a partner. All of those elements do not go together seamlessly. Nonetheless, throughout her adult life, Laura pushed and pulled at those often disparate elements to shape them into something cohesive, something healthy and rewarding. At times this was possible. At other times, not. Sometimes Laura would despair. But she was tenacious, fierce and unwavering in just how she could realize this vision for herself: the very life of Laura Nyro.
She never doubted that all these things COULD be harmonious, she just kept on trying to learn the HOW of it.
I am saying all of this to you, Laura's family, friends, and fans, on the 16th year of her passing, so that all of us--me and you--hold on tight to the ideals by which we have chosen to live, and as well to the dreams that we have imagined for ourselves. If we, none of us, forget the principles and dreams that make us what we are, we will have lived lives worth living.
Patty Di Lauria
The film homage to Laura entitled "December's Boudoir" is pressing forward. Please click on the link below, Earthworks Films, to access the latest information. I thank everyone, and there are so many of you, for your inquiries and kind thoughts. We, all of us, can anticipate beauty and ravishing representation of Laura from Maria Florio, whose heart and soul are the driving, exemplary force in this project.
To the many of you who write so beautifully and so passionately on the COMMENTS page, I feel a depth of gratitude. You write from your hearts. There are times when your letters astound me with their eloquence, other times by their raw simplicity. And I know it is your hearts that inform your hands which do the writing. It is your words that will provide the real thread in "December's Boudoir", the one that makes Laura real, and Laura would have wanted nothing less. Your words are a deep, deep pool of beauty, wisdom and kindness in and of themselves.
I thank you for sharing….. Please look for new comments on your Comments page.
For your listening pleasure here is a beautiful love song from Laura, "Springblown". It is from 1978's Nested.
This site, its format, typestyle, and colors were designed by Laura in the last year of her life. There is no intention to change it whatsoever.
For your pleasure, here is "Springblown"
The authorized Laura Nyro Web Site
All rights reserved. All media on the Laura Nyro web site is posted with the expressed permission of the various copyright holders. This includes, but is not limited to photographs, lyrics, sound files, and biographical material. This material may not, in whole or part, be copied, reproduced, photocopied, translated, recorded, or reduced to any electronic medium, machine readable format or mechanical means without the express consent, in writing, from the specific lawful copyright holders. March, 2003