Eva’s parents

Eva’s parents, frequently portrayed in British newspapers and magazines, are not as easy to trace as Chris Biondo.

I discover a website about Eva’s art owned by Eva’s sister Margret and half-sister Anette. It’s possible to order replicas of paintings, drawings and beads that Eva created on Evacassidy.com. In an email I introduce my investigation into the life and work of Eva Cassidy, and that I would like to contact people who have known Eva personally. This email hits target. Hugh Cassidy, Eva’s father himself, replies. He refers in general terms to the Songbird book, which provides answers to all possible queries. Delighted with this answer that came much quicker that I’d expected, I explain my intentions – Songbird was never translated into Dutch and I would like to write a book about the connection between Eva’s music, her art and her life. Hugh influenced Eva musically, while Barbara took her children to the National Gallery of Art so I would like to interview them both. Hugh replies the next day. Phoning doesn’t seem to be a good idea because of the time difference, but emailing is fine. No problem, this gives me the chance to considering any question carefully and reflect on all given answers. In this way, we start an interesting email exchange – the queries and answers fly back and forth.  Hugh answers dozens of emails in a rather candid manner. Barbara, who was born in Germany and experienced World War II there, writes personal letters about that dark period. However, when the subjects become too touchy and the questions too complicated our correspondence comes to an untimely ending.