janet taney

For those of you who didn't know Janet, she was one half of the Juggernaut String Band's core, with her husband Peter, who served as the public face of the band to most people, and with its changing group of musicians that went from Carl Baron to Maxwell Donkor to Holly Avila to Janet and Peter's daughter Joy. But she was also editor of the local newspaper's supplement for the elderly in the Poconos, and as such earned the respect and love of many people, for her insightful, intimate interviews with the colorful retirees in the Poconos, many of whom came to the funeral (I think there were about 50 cars in the procession, an enormous number of mourners for the area, and richly deserved on the basis of her writing alone). Her sweetness of spirit was matched only by her strength of intellect and knowledge of the most obscure things; people were constantly being surprised by Janet's learning, her offhand allusions to various arcana, her library, her ability and willingness to discuss subjects as far apart as Indian gurus and Caribbean voodoo.

She was one of the leading lights of the fine arts/social service organization, A Family of Artists, which Janet and Peter had first come to the Poconos to help my wife Jamie to run, and the children whom A Family of Artists served will long remember her for her constructive criticism and her ready ability to help them express their sometimes painful stories.

But that sweetness of spirit is the attribute that even more people remember about Janet. During her months of agonizing struggle against the brain tumor which eventually took her life, she never lost her ability to focus on the visitors to her hospital room, even to the very end in the hospice, where, with slowed speech but with continuously calm demeanor she managed to find out how her visitors were doing, what was going on in their lives, how they were feeling, especially. Among the many eulogies at the reception following the funeral, Joy's stands out, in relaying how Peter, with some awe, said that her mother had already become an iconic figure to many people - "St Janet." The laughter which greeted this was respectful, but it recognized what a sweet friend we had all lost. Then the African drumming and country singing took over, and the assembled group of friends paid tribute once more to Janet in the way that musicians do when one of their own passes over. She was a rare human being, and she will be sorely missed - John