From 4258 She Came 

Today would've been the 58th birthday of Janet Elyse Heaney. Undoubtedly she would've done something fun and creative to celebrate. She was always a ball of fire. Fiercely intelligent, stridently opinionated, unfailingly kind.

Janet graduated Summa Cum Laude from Boston University in the early 80s and headed west to find her fortune as a screenwriter/filmmaker. We met in Los Angeles in 1987 when she was just finishing the script for a movie called "Powwow Highway." Powwow would later win an audience prize at Sundance, get a limited release by Warner Brothers and become a revered cult favorite among Native American movie viewers.

Janet and I married in 1991. We honeymooned in Ireland and visited her ancestral home. Here's a panorama (before panoramas could be made with your phone) from our trip to the Ring of Kerry.

Janet inspired a number of the songs that appeared on P. Hux "Deluxe" including "Simple Things", "Live Like A King", "So Good" and more. That album is a favorite of people who know my music, and Janet deserves some credit.

Janet's favorite musical artist, by a mile, was Elton John. She got to meet him on two occasions, which always makes me happy to reflect on. Here she is with Elton and our friend from eels, Mark Everett. 

Janet passed away on January 10, 1997 from brain cancer. She fought it bravely for over a year and was once again an inspiration for the way she faced her struggle.

My album Purgatory Falls is named after Janet's family farm in New Hampshire and dedicated to her life and memory.  My song "I Loved Everything" reached #1 on Rolling Stone Magazine's Exclusive Download Chart. Credit for that belongs to Janet, too.

Gone, but never forgotten!

 

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