Valerie Rose Laub, 31, Phoebe Snow's daughter died
wazzzy
Saying Goodbye to Valerie
Valerie Rose Laub died on Sunday. She was an astonishing 31 years old.
You don't know who Valerie was, but I'll tell you: she was Phoebe
Snow's daughter. Valerie was born with such a confluence of injuries
in 1975 that no one knew what was wrong. Truthfully, I don't think to
this day anyone ever did figure it out.
Phoebe Snow was 23 years old when Valerie was born. Let's say that she
was as big as Norah Jones, Joss Stone, Tori Amos, Sarah McLachlan and
two dozen other female pop stars all rolled into one.
She had a huge hit, called "Poetry Man." She had a monster self-titled
album. She was the voice of her generation. You can see pictures of
her with other stars of the time on her Web site. She was going to be
the next big thing, a jazz, pop and R&B singer of singular magnitude.
And then Valerie was born.
As Phoebe remembers it, everyone told her to have Valerie
institutionalized. They said she wouldn't live very long. For a
minute, Phoebe gave in. But then she came out of her shock, and
reclaimed her child. By then, she owed her record company, Columbia,
albums and money. She would never "recoup" as they say. She would
always be in debt. She missed sessions and fought with record
executives. She wouldn't tour because she felt she shouldn't leave
Valerie. She declared bankruptcy.
There were occasional signs that Phoebe might make a comeback. All of
them failed. She had a hit single with Paul Simon, "Gone At Last." But
nothing further came of it. By 1979, she recorded a terrible album for
an Atlantic subsidiary. Her career was really, completely sunk.
Two things happened that helped in the mid '80s: Charles Koppelman
heard her on TV singing a Bloomingdale's jingle. He signed her to an
album, and it became a minor hit.
"Something Real" should have relaunched Phoebe Snow, but she was so
wigged out from life with Valerie by then, it wasn't possible. Later
she won a malpractice suit against the hospital where Valerie was
born, and the money made life a little easier. Just a little.
Valerie was 16 in 1991, the year I remember Phoebe announced that her
child walked for the first time. It was a miracle.
With no real diagnosis, and no precedents, Valerie was a medical
anomaly. Phoebe talked about doctors in Mexico and alternative
treatments, but whatever it was, it was a miracle. And that's the way
things have been since then.
Phoebe and Valerie lived in a small apartment in Fort Lee. Phoebe did
occasional gigs, and they would sell out. To say she became kooky is a
kind of way of putting it. I don't know what she was like before all
this, but life devoted to Valerie was not easy no matter how much
Phoebe loved her.
The child's physical deficiencies were severe, and daunting. Her
communication skills were a challenge. At this point, as Phoebe
continued to care for her child, the mystery of Valerie became almost
spiritual. There was no explanation for why or how she had lived so
long, except that Phoebe had willed it.
When I heard that Valerie died, my first thought was relief. She had
been released into the cosmos, where her beautiful spirit could roam
without the encumbrance of her physical deficiencies.
Valerie did and was able to laugh. She had a sense of humor. But she
couldn't share it with many people, just Phoebe, a few close friends
and a caregiver. She was warm, she knew and gave love easily and loved
to hug people she trusted. If there's an afterlife, and just for right
now let's say there is, Valerie Rose is lighting up the stars.
I can't help but think about Valerie and Phoebe. Over the years, I've
fallen out of touch with Phoebe. She was not an easy friend, and at
one point the connection was broken.
No matter how Phoebe Snow operated in the music business, it was never
her priority. That was always Valerie. It's hard to imagine someone
giving up a career like that today, and sacrificing themselves for
their child. That's what Phoebe Snow did for her daughter.
I don't know what she will do now that Valerie is gone. Three decades
of love and service are over. But I hope somewhere along the line, no
matter what's happened to her in the business (where her terrible
reputation is never far away), Phoebe Snow gets to sing again. She'll
do it for Valerie, and for a whole generation that got cheated out of
knowing Phoebe Snow as a star the way her daughter did.
aka Bob
magnanimously proffered:
>http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,260381,00.html
>
>Saying Goodbye to Valerie
Beautifully written by Roger Friedman? Powerful stuff ...
--
"It's not that I'm afraid to die. I just don't want to be there when it happens." - Woody Allen
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wax-up and drop-in of Surfing's Golden Years: <http://www.surfwriter.net>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chris
"wazzzy" <enter...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1174702497.6...@l75g2000hse.googlegroups.com...
> http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,260381,00.html
>
> Saying Goodbye to Valerie
>
> Valerie Rose Laub died on Sunday. She was an astonishing 31 years old.
>
wazzzy
Hoodini
> Valerie Rose Laub died on Sunday. She was an astonishing 31 years old.
> You don't know who Valerie was, but I'll tell you: she was Phoebe
> Snow's daughter.
Howard Stern mentioned her passing yesterday during his radio show. I
searched for a news report online a day ago but found no current news
mentioning Phoebe.
Howard and his sidekick Robin Quivers both spoke highly of Phoebe and
how she would help out the show with her singing.
From the official show notes:
Thursday, March 22, 2007
http://www.howardstern.com/rundown.hs?j=n&d=1174449600
Howard mentioned the 32-year-old daughter of his friend, singer,
Phoebe Snow, died a few days ago, and talked about how she outlived
her life expectancy due to a medical condition she had.
--
Gotta Find My Roogalator
Jim Beaver
"aka Bob" <bobf...@surfwriter.net.not> wrote in message
news:qi49035vup3rdgn23...@4ax.com...
> On 23 Mar 2007 19:14:57 -0700, "wazzzy" <enter...@gmail.com>
> magnanimously proffered:
>
>>http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,260381,00.html
>>
>>Saying Goodbye to Valerie
>
> Beautifully written by Roger Friedman? Powerful stuff ...
I was just thinking that it was powerful stuff, horribly written. Who was
as big as all of those modern pop stars, Phoebe or Valerie? And as big as
all of them rolled together? That's a pretty big ball of people for one
person to be as big as. Some careful word choice would have left me
thinking more about the mother and daughter and a lot less about "how did
this ever get published?"
Jim Beaver
Chef Juke
I too, had similar thoughts:
Heartfelt? Yes.
Moving story?
But not well written. Read like that more of a friend, or a fan than
a writer.
-Chef Juke
"EVERYbody Eats When They Come To MY House!"
www.chefjuke.com
PirateJohn
> On Fri, 23 Mar 2007 23:41:48 -0700, "Jim Beaver"
>
>
>
>
>
>
> >"aka Bob" <bobfei...@surfwriter.net.not> wrote in message
> >news:qi49035vup3rdgn23...@4ax.com...
> >> On 23 Mar 2007 19:14:57 -0700, "wazzzy" <enter23...@gmail.com>
> >> magnanimously proffered:
>
> >>>http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,260381,00.html
>
> >>>Saying Goodbye to Valerie
>
> >> Beautifully written by Roger Friedman? Powerful stuff ...
>
> >I was just thinking that it was powerful stuff, horribly written. Who was
> >as big as all of those modern pop stars, Phoebe or Valerie? And as big as
> >all of them rolled together? That's a pretty big ball of people for one
> >person to be as big as. Some careful word choice would have left me
> >thinking more about the mother and daughter and a lot less about "how did
> >this ever get published?"
>
> >Jim Beaver
>
> I too, had similar thoughts:
>
> Heartfelt? Yes.
>
> Moving story?
>
> But not well written. Read like that more of a friend, or a fan than
> a writer.
>
Regardless, a very tragic story and by all accounts Ms. Snow is a
remarkable person.
Maybe here daughter rest in peace.
And may Ms. Snow, in her own way, find peace.
aka Bob
Read the article the first time and I never had a problem knowing who
it was about, although I did pause to wonder if I could remember
Phoebe being as big as Nora Jones, etc. Not that it's important to me.
After seeing your post I read it again more critically and still don't
have a problem with it. Different strokes ...
But I'm curious. Was it just the following para that you thought was
horribly written, or the entire piece?
"Phoebe Snow was 23 years old when Valerie was born. Let's say that
she was as big as Norah Jones, Joss Stone, Tori Amos, Sarah McLachlan
and two dozen other female pop stars all rolled into one."
Jim Beaver
"aka Bob" <bobf...@surfwriter.net.not> wrote in message
The whole piece. That one paragraph encapsulate the article's failings for
me quite well, but it alone was not enough that I would have posted as I
did. Just clunky writing, that's all. It's still a powerfully affecting
story.
Jim Beaver
Kenny McCormack
Jim Beaver <jumb...@prodigy.spam> wrote:
...
>> "Phoebe Snow was 23 years old when Valerie was born. Let's say that
>> she was as big as Norah Jones, Joss Stone, Tori Amos, Sarah McLachlan
>> and two dozen other female pop stars all rolled into one."
>
>The whole piece. That one paragraph encapsulate the article's failings for
>me quite well, but it alone was not enough that I would have posted as I
>did. Just clunky writing, that's all. It's still a powerfully affecting
>story.
Agreed. The other poster makes the Usenet error of assuming that if
someone complains about something being badly written that that means:
1) That it was incomprehensible
and 2) That maybe that reflects badly on the person making the
complaint (i.e., that it is the reader's fault for not
understanding it)
Neither is true, either in general or in this specific instance. One
can point out that something is poorly written (sounds clunky and amateurish)
without that carrying an implication that it can't be deciphered. With
enough effort, (just about) anything can be deciphered.
aka Bob
gaz...@xmission.xmission.com (Kenny McCormack) magnanimously
proffered:
What the fuck are you talking about? I asked a question because I was
curious about how Jim came to the conclusion he did and he answered my
question. If anyone is going off half-cocked it's you.
tgen...@gmail.com
on every Phoebe Snow's albums. She was a dedicated Mother.๐๐๐. Phoebe you and Valerie Rose are "Poetry Man" in Heaven๐๐๐. "Second Childhood album"๐๐
talk...@yahoo.com
her...@comcast.net
Racist and cruel? I think so. At the time, however, nobody questioned anything said or done by Bill Cosby, that moral beacon and role model.
Louis Epstein
that consists in its entirety of a note about her mother?
(The name "Phoebe Snow" was originally invented for a promotional
character by the Delaware Lackawanna & Western Railroad in 1902).
-=-=-
The World Trade Center towers MUST rise again,
at least as tall as before...or terror has triumphed.
