Marin Women's Hall of Fame

Mimi Farina
By Nancy Nakai

    One of  Mimi Farina's first memories is that of moving to Europe.  In fact, many  of  Mimi's  childhood  memories  have  to  do with moving, as her father's work (a physicist/professor who sometimes worked for UNESCO) often carried them well beyond  the borders of the  Bay  area  -  to  Baghdad,  Paris, the Los Angeles area, and various cities on the east coast of the U.S. 

    While a native of  the  Bay  Area,  (Mimi  was  born  at Stanford Hospital in  1945) Mimi spent many of her early years in American schools or English-speaking schools abroad.  The frequent changes of  home  and  friends  were  "very difficult", as Mimi was a shy girl.  It was  hard to  find a  place where  she could  fit.  Her first school  was a convent school in Iran, where Mimi states the nuns were very cold  and strict  and whose  "insensitive approach turned me  off to learning through books".  She was happiest when she attended music and/or dance class  after school  was finished for  the  day.     In  fact, music and dance  became of central importance to her early in her life. One of her favorite memories is of her aunt in London who danced, and encouraged Mimi to dance by putting her in a stage  production at  the age  of 2  or 3. "I have been performing all my life," Mimi exclaims.

     All  the  children  in  her  family  (there  were  three sisters, Pauline, Joan and Mimi) were given piano lessons.  Mimi also took violin,  although  she  turned  to  the  study  of  guitar at the beginning of  the folk  music movement  in the  mid-1950's.  Mimi feels that there was competition between herself and her sisters, and that there was never a lot of support flowing from one to the other.  "Rivalry  was  always  a  factor in my life," she states.

     That frustration  is complicated  by the  fact that  she has been known as  "Joan Baez's  sister" on many occasions.  The music and dance continued through high  school,  and  Mimi  performed  in a Parisian dance  troop her  last two  years in high school.  After high school, Mimi was not interested in college  "book learning", but wished to continue with her performing in music and dance.

    During  this  time,  in  fact  when  she  was seventeen, Mimi met Richard Farina, a poet, musician and song writer living in Paris.  Within a  year they  were married  (1963) in  California and they began performing together successfully  thereafter.   Mimi played on  guitar  and  Richard  on  dulcimer,  often  singing Richard's original songs which remain folk classics  to this  day: "pack Up Your Sorrows",  "Children of  Darkness", and "Birmingham Sunday", to name a few.  Together they recorded three albums  for Vanguard Records, "Celebration  for a Grey Day", "Reflections in a Crystal Wind", and "Memories".  They made  a legendary  appearance at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival.

     They lived  happily in  Carmel during  these few  years.  Richard wrote a novel. Been Down So Long It Looks Up To Me,  and upon its successful  printing  was  away  to  book-signing  events.  While returning  from  a  book-signing  one  evening,   he  was in a motorcycle accident and was killed.  It was Mimi's twenty-first birthday.

     The next years were hard ones  for  Mimi,  as  the  death  of her husband  bore  down  hard  on  both  Mimi's  loving heart and her security as a performer.  She moved to San Francisco,  where Bill Graham connected  her with  a Marin  rock band which performed at the "Hungry I".  Later, she joined "The  Committee" (a political, satirical  revue  company)  which  Mimi  declares both helped her through the grieving process and taught her how  to be  on stage.

    After  one  year,  she  left  The  Committee.  She was invited to perform at the Newport Folk Festival, but felt her voice  was not yet solo  quality.  Instead she teamed up with singer Tom Jans in 1971, and cut an  album  "Take  Heart"  for  A&M  Records.   This singing  partnership  ended  in  1972  when she struck out on her own.  Touring as a solo, she opened concerts for  well-known folk artists such as Gordon Lightfoot, Arlo Guthrie, Hoyt Axton, Kenny Rankin, and Phil Ochs.  She also headlined at numerous clubs.  It was  during this  time that  the music  industry was suffering from  a  vinyl  shortage  (due  to the oil crisis of 1973/4) that paralyzed record production.  Unable to obtain the support of A&M Records  with  its  preoccupation  on  marketing fewer and bigger selling artists, Mimi left A&M and Los Angeles.   It  was back in the Bay  Area that  Mimi sought  to resolve  the conflict between business and art  -  and  to  search  for  a  means  of  making a contribution.

    After  completing  a  singing  tour,  and having open time on her schedule, Mimi performed at a halfway house and "a lightbulb went off".  "I suddenly couldn't see where I would fit anywhere else," she claims.   Mimi  called other  local institutions.   For, when performing in these facilities, Mimi felt that she was helping to alleviate some of the  sense  of  isolation  experienced  by the people confined,  whether they  were in  a convalescent home or a correctional facility.  And,  she realized  that other performing artists  -  who  had  been  "put  out"  by  the  music industry's transition away from folk music  -  had  the  desire  to continue sharing their talents. Thus, in 1974, the organization "Bread and Roses" was founded by Mimi.    For  the  first  five  years, Mimi worked for  Bread and  Roses without  pay.  Instead she supported Bread and Roses with  her performing  talents and  her previously untapped organizational abilities.

     Bread and Roses  has  been  the  constant  recipient  of numerous awards, including  the 1986  "Agency of  the Year" Award from the Volunteer Center of Marin and a  1987 Recognition  Award from the Marin Council  of Agencies.   Mimi  has also received a number of awards,  including  a  1982  "Women  Making  History"  Award from Congresswoman Barbara Boxer and a Certificate of Recognition from the State  of California  in 1984.   in  addition, the pioneering efforts of Bread and Roses' unique partnership of performing arts and social  service  has  inspired  other  groups  throughout the country to provide similar services.

    Mimi's  favorite   role  models   are  her  older  sister,  Joan - "probably the most influential  role  model  in  my  life"  and a friend of  her mother's, Rosemary Goodenough.  She also continues to value the consul  of  her  mother,  "my  strongest supporter".

    Recently Mimi has been reconnecting with friends she made fifteen or more years ago - people she has  seen again  during the course of her recent successful singing tour of Europe.   She continues to write fine  songs, several  of which  have been  recorded by Joan Baez and Judy Collins.