Monday, 11 September 2006
Catherine Fairfax MacRae: a tribute
Catherine Fairfax MacRae was born on July 21st, 1978 in New York City, and studied at the Brearley School in the city, and Princeton University, majoring in Economics. Graduating in 2000, she went to work first at Goldman Sachs and then as a stock analyst with Fred Alger Management, a prestigious investment firm in Manhattan.
Known to her friends and family as "Cat", she was a girl with many strings to her bow; captain of her high school squash and tennis teams, editor of the school newspaper, a talented mathematician and English student and, in her spare time at Princeton, tutored underpriviliged children in nearby Trenton. Cat and her longtime boyfriend Andrew Casperson were beginning to contemplate marriage: "We talked about our future, and we were getting impatient," as Andrew put it.
She was always giving her friends little gifts, and spoke to her mother at least three times a day. Her favourite place, according to Andrew, was the beach at Southampton, on Long Island; "Her face would light up when we walked over the beach; it was the one place where she felt free and at peace with God."
Cat died on September 11th, 2001, when terrorists hijacked American Airlines Flight 11, slashing the throats of two flight attendants and a passenger in so doing, and flew it into the upper floors of World Trade Centre One where Fred Alger Management had its offices. 34 of her colleagues, and all 87 passengers and crew on board the aircraft, died in the attack, along with thousands of others.
A memorial service for Cat's life was held on October 6, 2001 in Southampton; her family had to set up a marquee outside the church to accommodate all those who wanted to attend. Her portrait hangs in the lobby of the Ivy Club in Princeton, which I visited many years ago.
The Cat MacRae Fund was set up in November 2001 to support the type of charitable causes that Cat was devoted to in life, particularly disadvantaged children and those affected by acts of violence and terror. Visit the Fund's website here.
The 2996 project has brought together bloggers from the US and all around the world, with the aim of commemorating the men and women murdered on September 11th, 2001, rather than their killers. Each participating blogger was assigned a name at random. A full list of participants, and the subjects of their tributes, can be found at the 2996 project homepage, here.
My blog reflects the [worst?] excesses of my personality; cynical, sardonic, and frequently rude. So this is a departure for me, an anomaly in some ways; but I'm not going to apologise for that. Of course we cannot, in a couple of hundred words, adequately celebrate the life of someone we did not know; but we can, at least, remember.
Back Tuesday.
Comments:
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Lovely tribute. I have been really touched by all of these. Thank you for yours.
Cindi
Proudly honoring Jay Robert Magazine.
Cindi
Proudly honoring Jay Robert Magazine.
Awesome job! You did great on portraying the kind of woman Catherine was in life. You should be proud...Thank you for taking the time.
Rest in peace, Catherine. I will never forget!
I am honoring Daniel Lugo. Feel free to visit and comment.
http://mamakbear.blogspot.com
Rest in peace, Catherine. I will never forget!
I am honoring Daniel Lugo. Feel free to visit and comment.
http://mamakbear.blogspot.com
Lovely tribute, Mr. Eugenides. As much as I enjoy your foul-mouthed ranting this is a commendable piece of blogging and in the words of 'Mamakbear' an awesome job.
Kind regards,
RS
Kind regards,
RS
Very nicely done. I will remember Cathrine thanks to you.
My tribute to Frank Mancini:
http://joystory.blogspot.com/2006/09/2996-contours-of-courage.html
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My tribute to Frank Mancini:
http://joystory.blogspot.com/2006/09/2996-contours-of-courage.html
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