Catherine Fleming

Kathryn Ann Kate Fleming (October 6, 1965 – December 14, 2006) was an American actress, voice actress, artist, singer, and award-winning audiobook 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.Fleming was born in Arlington, Virginia in 1965. 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 audiobooks 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 Ozekis All Over Creation. In a July 1, 2005, interview with the William & Mary Alumni Association, Fleming noted several of her favorite narration projects: Bel Canto by Ann Patchett, The Falls by Joyce Carol Oates, Baker Towers by Jennifer Haigh, and any title by Louise Erdrich. In addition to her work on audiobooks, she also narrated the Military Channels six-episode series Navy Seals, which chronicled the six-month basic training process for US Navy Seals in 2007. Another military-themed narration was for the Discovery Channel documentary Secrets of the Stealth: Nighthawk, on the F-117 Nighthawk, the US Air Forces first stealth plane, and its crucial role in winning the first Gulf War.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 wife and partner of nine years, Charlene Strong. At the hospital, Strong was denied access to see Fleming until permission was granted by an out-of-state relative. The experience led Strong to advocate for legislation that was eventually passed as Washingtons Domestic Partnership Law.After Flemings death, the City of Seattle commissioned a report to determine the cause of flash flooding in Flemings neighborhood. As of 2013, the house where Fleming died had been replaced by a garden, and the city has completed a stormwater project in the neighborhood. The project features a reservoir capable of holding excess storm runoff when the rest of the system is over capacity. A memorial at the site is inscribed with words that Fleming would say before going on stage as an actress: Be a light. Be a flame. Be a beacon.

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