Kate Fleming
Encyclopedia
Kathryn Ann "Kate" Fleming (6 October 1965 - 14 December 2006) was an American
award-winning audio book
narrator and producer.
She was the owner and executive producer at Cedar House Audio, an audio production company
specializing in spoken word
that is located in Seattle, Washington
, United States
. Her most noted work is the voice of Daisy in Mario Tennis
.
Fleming died when a flash flood trapped her inside her Madison Valley
basement studio during the Hanukkah Eve Wind Storm of 2006
. She is survived by her partner
of nine years, Charlene Strong
.
Fleming was born in Arlington, Virginia. She grew up in the Washington, D.C.
area and graduated from the College of William and Mary
in 1987 (Bachelor of Arts
, Religion
). Fleming studied at the Actors Theatre of Louisville
, Kentucky
and was an alumna of the 1987/1988 Apprentice Company.
After a stint as a professional actor, she branched into audio book
s in the mid-1990s. Fleming recorded well over 200 titles, many under the stage name
Anna Fields.
In 2004, Fleming won the Audie Award for Unabridged Fiction
for her performance of Ruth Ozeki
's All Over Creation. In a 1 July 2005 interview with the William & Mary Alumni Association, Fleming noted several of her favorite narration projects:
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
award-winning audio book
Audio book
An audiobook or audio book is a recording of a text being read. It is not necessarily an exact audio version of a book or magazine.Spoken audio has been available in schools and public libraries and to a lesser extent in music shops since the 1930s. Many spoken word albums were made prior to the...
narrator and producer.
She was the owner and executive producer at Cedar House Audio, an audio production company
Sound recording and reproduction
Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...
specializing in spoken word
Spoken word
Spoken word is a form of poetry that often uses alliterated prose or verse and occasionally uses metered verse to express social commentary. Traditionally it is in the first person, is from the poet’s point of view and is themed in current events....
that is located in Seattle, Washington
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Her most noted work is the voice of Daisy in Mario Tennis
Mario Tennis
Mario Tennis, known in Japan as , is a sports video game developed by Camelot and Nintendo for the Nintendo 64 video game console. The game was released in North America and Japan in the summer of 2000, and released in Europe later in November. It is the first tennis-based game starring Mario since...
.
Fleming died when a flash flood trapped her inside her Madison Valley
Madison Valley, Seattle, Washington
Madison Valley is a neighborhood in Seattle located east of Capitol Hill; west of Washington Park; south of Montlake; and north of the Central District.The valley is centered on the corner of E. Madison Street and Martin Luther King Jr...
basement studio during the Hanukkah Eve Wind Storm of 2006
Hanukkah Eve Wind Storm of 2006
The Hanukkah Eve Wind Storm of 2006 was a powerful Pacific storm that slammed into the Pacific Northwest region of the United States and southern British Columbia, Canada between December 14, 2006 and December 15, 2006...
. She is survived by her partner
Life partner
A life partner is a romantic or otherwise very close friend for life. The partners can be of the same or opposite sexes, married or unmarried, and monogamous or polyamorous....
of nine years, Charlene Strong
Charlene Strong
Charlene D. Strong is an American gay rights activist. Since the death of her partner, Kate Fleming, Strong has become an advocate for marriage equality and legal protections for LGBT families....
.
Fleming was born in Arlington, Virginia. She grew up in the Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
area and graduated from the College of William and Mary
College of William and Mary
The College of William & Mary in Virginia is a public research university located in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States...
in 1987 (Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
, Religion
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
). Fleming studied at the Actors Theatre of Louisville
Actors Theatre of Louisville
Actors Theatre of Louisville is a performing arts theater located in downtown Louisville, Kentucky. It was founded in 1964 by Louisville native Ewel Cornett, local producer Richard Block and actor Ken Jenkins of Scrubs fame, and was designated the "State Theater of Kentucky" in 1974. It is run as a...
, Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
and was an alumna of the 1987/1988 Apprentice Company.
After a stint as a professional actor, she branched into audio book
Audio book
An audiobook or audio book is a recording of a text being read. It is not necessarily an exact audio version of a book or magazine.Spoken audio has been available in schools and public libraries and to a lesser extent in music shops since the 1930s. Many spoken word albums were made prior to the...
s in the mid-1990s. Fleming recorded well over 200 titles, many under the stage name
Stage name
A stage name, also called a showbiz name or screen name, is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers such as actors, wrestlers, comedians, and musicians.-Motivation to use a stage name:...
Anna Fields.
In 2004, Fleming won the Audie Award for Unabridged Fiction
Audie Awards
The Audie Awards are annually bestowed annually in the USA for outstanding audiobooks. The Audies have been granted by the Audio Publishers Association, a not-for-profit trade organization, since 1996. The nominees are announced each year in January, and the winners are announced at a gala banquet...
for her performance of Ruth Ozeki
Ruth Ozeki
Ruth Ozeki is a Canadian-American novelist, filmmaker and Zen Buddhist priest. She worked in commercial television and media production for over a decade and made several independent films before turning to writing fiction.-Life:...
's All Over Creation. In a 1 July 2005 interview with the William & Mary Alumni Association, Fleming noted several of her favorite narration projects:
- Bel CantoBel Canto (novel)Bel Canto is a 2001 novel by American author Ann Patchett, published by Perennial, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. It was awarded both the Orange Prize for Fiction and PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction...
by Ann PatchettAnn PatchettAnn Patchett is an American author. She received the Orange Prize for Fiction and the PEN/Faulkner Award in 2002 for her novel Bel Canto. Patchett's other novels include Run, The Patron Saint of Liars, Taft, and The Magician's Assistant, which was shortlisted for the Orange Prize... - The FallsThe Falls (Oates novel)The Falls is a novel by Joyce Carol Oates, originally published in 2004 by the Ecco Press, and winner of the 2005 Prix Femina Etranger.It tells the story of Ariah, a woman whose husband threw himself over Niagara Falls on their honeymoon...
by Joyce Carol OatesJoyce Carol OatesJoyce Carol Oates is an American author. Oates published her first book in 1963 and has since published over fifty novels, as well as many volumes of short stories, poetry, and nonfiction... - Baker Towers by Jennifer HaighJennifer HaighJennifer Haigh is an American novelist and short story writer.She was born in Barnesboro, a Western Pennsylvania coal town 85 miles northeast of Pittsburgh in Cambria County. She attended Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania and earned a Master of Fine Arts degree from the Iowa Writers'...
- And, “Any title” by Louise ErdrichLouise ErdrichKaren Louise Erdrich, known as Louise Erdrich, is an author of novels, poetry, and children's books featuring Native American heritage. She is widely acclaimed as one of the most significant writers of the second wave of what critic Kenneth Lincoln has called the Native American Renaissance...
External links
- Cedar House Audio
- AudioFile magazine Golden Voices profile
- An obituary on the lesbian site AfterEllen.com
- Book World Loses Narrator Kate Fleming December 19, 2006 on National Public Radio; Two minutes and 52 seconds. (Windows Media PlayerWindows Media PlayerWindows Media Player is a media player and media library application developed by Microsoft that is used for playing audio, video and viewing images on personal computers running the Microsoft Windows operating system, as well as on Pocket PC and Windows Mobile-based devices...
, RealPlayerRealPlayerRealPlayer is a cross-platform media player by RealNetworks that plays a number of multimedia formats including MP3, MPEG-4, QuickTime, Windows Media, and multiple versions of proprietary RealAudio and RealVideo formats.-History:...
). - Add your voice to the chorus calling for equality and dignity, Guest column by Charlene Strong, Seattle Times, August 9, 2007
- In tragedy's wake, an unlikely activist is born, Seattle Gay News, November 16, 2007