About Me
[THIS IS A FAN TRIBUTE PAGE] ....One day, I was researching various remakes of the classic song, VINCENT (STARRY, STARRY NIGHT), written for VINCENT VAN GOGH by DON McLEAN (McLean himself told me in 1991 that his original manuscript of the song is sealed inside a time capsule and buried underneath the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam) .....While randomly listening to various cover versions, I happened across a rendition performed by CATHERINE REED, a singer/songwriter of whom I had never heard, who resides in Arkansas. I was sufficiently impressed by Ms. Reed’s sound that I began to research her other recordings, and surfed onto her website .....Reading her bio, I was intrigued to learn that, following the death of her parents, Ms. Reed had been raised by her grandparents in Abilene, Texas, which happens to be the town in which I have lived since 1979. Through her website, I emailed Ms. Reed, and she responded promptly .....To my astonishment, Ms. Reed informed me that her great-grandfather, CLAIBORN WALKER ’Clabe’ MERCHANT, *founded* Abilene, Texas, naming it for Abilene, Kansas, and building the first home to be built in the Key City of West Texas. Furthermore, having been born in August of 1836, shortly after the battles of THE ALAMO and of SAN JACINTO, Merchant was *reportedly* the first white child born under the flag of the REPUBLIC OF TEXAS .....Given Ms. Reed’s historical relevance to Abilene, Texas, not to mention her considerable musical talents, I am amazed she is virtually unknown in her hometown. This page is dedicated to changing that sad fact .....
