Thank you so much for this article! I’m always glad to get a little more insite
into Mr Cohen’s life, and that’s not always easy to do…
Thanks again,
Nance
From: ourplace-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ourplace-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On ;
Behalf Of Tallguy (Redacted sender "tallguy403" for DMARC)
Sent: Thursday, August 04, 2016 4:32 AM
To: Our Place List <ourplace@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [ourplace] Leonard Cohen's Marianne Dies
Marianne Ihlen, the woman immortalized in "So Long, Marianne" and the woman in
Leonard Cohen's life through the 1960s, died July 28, 2016 after being
diagnosed with leukemia less than a week ago.
Jan Christian Mollestad, who is currently completing a biographical film about
her, informed the songwriter. In a Facebook post, Cohen has asked that
Mollestad's letter to him about his friend's passing be read at her memorial.
He wrote: "Marianne slept slowly out of this life yesterday evening. Totally at
ease, surrounded by close friends."
Mollestad also recalled Cohen's letter to his former muse, which he read to her
in her final days.
"Your letter came when she still could talk and laugh in full consciousness,"
he writes. "When we read it aloud, she smiled as only Marianne can. She lifted
her hand, when you said you were right behind, close enough to reach her."
"In her last hour I held her hand and hummed Bird on a Wire, while she was
breathing so lightly," Mollestad adds. "And when we left the room, after her
soul had flown out of the window for new adventures, we kissed her head and
whispered your everlasting words, So long, Marianne."
Cohen's Facebook manager has also created an ongoing memorial to Ihlen on the
singer/songwriter's social media site, stating: "The woman immortalized in So
Long, Marianne has evoked an overwhelming response from those who knew Marianne
well, those who knew her only as Leonard Cohen's muse, and even those who
previously didn't know there was a 'real Marianne'."
To hear an interview with Mollestad on CBC radio and "Bird on a Wire",
Marianne's favourite song by Cohen, from a live performance, download from this
Dropbox link:
Our Place
<https://www.dropbox.com/sh/1zmt4vzta5pzft9/AABnBUsl5RUbmsZmX0PYpAgda?dl=0>
Tallguy
