Post #555695 by Cammo on Thu, Sep 23, 2010 1:28 PM

(Please copy mine and add/change anything you'd like to this)

Kate was a Girl Scout leader.

Kate majored in Victorian-Era English Literature in college.

Kate hated reading all those novels in school, so she read Nancy Drew to clear her head. She collected a complete set of 1950’s edition Nancy Drews.

Kate had a job as an order fulfillment manager at a surgical supply warehouse. (Correct me if I’m wrong, please!) This always struck me as a classic 1950’s job, working in a bare-bones building under fluorescent lights, typing all day. You’d expect Rock Hudson to walk in and start complaining about year end quotas, with big zig-zag charts.

She was one of the very first members of Tiki Central, going back to when it was a Yahoo Users group. She remembers all the details of Bong getting kicked out, the birth of International Tiki Day, etc.

She has a complete or almost complete collection of Tiki Farm mugs. She was Holden’s biggest fan, and would always pump him for info about edition sizes and release dates. It was quite an education, simply following Kate around when she’d be hunting and questioning Holden.

Her entire mug collection was destroyed in a famous incident when a stolen car ended a high speed chase with the police by driving directly into her home, hitting the wall holding the mugs first. I’d still like to see pictures of this, Kate must have taken pictures. The whole collection was replaced piece by piece with insurance money.

She has a bumper sticker - "I Brake for Tiki-Kate's House".

Kate was either the outright inventor or head technical consultant for Ooga-Mooga, the ultimate tiki mug online database. It’s probably the coolest website on Earth, that’s all.

Kate loved to hang out at Oceanic Arts, when she was depressed about anything she’d just go buy a mask there. It worked every time.

Kate attended every chop, right from the start. She got to love carving so much, using it as an exercise/relaxation technique, that she carved in her kitchen in the morning! Just like Buzzy!

She had a huge collection of Hawaiian XL shirts and beach towels.

Kate drank Rum and Kava, and hated coffee.

Kate went to EVERY Tiki event. At one point you could tell if it was a good event simply because Kate went to it. She was legendary for driving for hours all across California, Hawaii, Nevada, the Blue Ridge Mountains, just to swill a drink and discuss matchbooks. This is all the more amazing, because she was a very shy person at heart.

Kate visited the original sources for the whole Tiki Culture, she actually went to New Zealand and Hawaii. Her tracking down the Legendary Lost Bamboo Grove at the end of a Hawaiian trail was an incredible feat of detective work, worthy of Nancy Drew herself.

Kate had the sweetest smile I’ve ever seen. Her smile grew in direct proportion to the amount of Tiki Folk around her.

Long live Kate, in all our hearts and minds.