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Remembering Liz McNicholl, CT singer-songwriter: 'She was magic. She was like sunshine'

Shot from the neck of the acoustic guitar with focus on the fifteenth fret
Carlos Ivan Gil Iglesias
/
Getty
New Haven area singer-songerwriter and music educator Liz McNicholl died last month.

The New Haven area has lost a well-known local singer-songwriter and music educator.

The Irish folksinger Liz McNicholl died last month. Her family said she had been struggling with her mental health and chronic pain.

But McNicholl’s legacy is larger than her recording and performing career.

"She was magic. She was like sunshine," said Cara McDonough, who took classes with her three kids at Musical Folk, the early childhood music school that McNicholl founded in the early 2000s.

Connecticut Public’s Jonathan McNicol — no relation — has this audio remembrance.

If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

Jonathan is a producer for ‘The Colin McEnroe Show.’ His work has been heard nationally on NPR and locally on Connecticut Public’s talk shows and news magazines. He’s as likely to host a podcast on minor league baseball as he is to cover a presidential debate almost by accident. Jonathan can be reached at jmcnicol@ctpublic.org.

Federal funding is gone.

Congress has eliminated all funding for public media.

That means $2.1 million per year that Connecticut Public relied on to deliver you news, information, and entertainment programs you enjoyed is gone.

The future of public media is in your hands.

All donations are appreciated, but we ask in this moment you consider starting a monthly gift as a Sustainer to help replace what’s been lost.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT is an initiative from Connecticut Public, the state’s local NPR and PBS station, to elevate Latino stories and expand programming that uplifts and informs our Latino communities. Visit CTPublic.org/latino for more stories and resources. For updates, sign up for the SOMOS CONNECTICUT newsletter at ctpublic.org/newsletters.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

Federal funding is gone.

Congress has eliminated all funding for public media.

That means $2.1 million per year that Connecticut Public relied on to deliver you news, information, and entertainment programs you enjoyed is gone.

The future of public media is in your hands.

All donations are appreciated, but we ask in this moment you consider starting a monthly gift as a Sustainer to help replace what’s been lost.

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Connecticut Public’s journalism is made possible, in part by funding from Jeffrey Hoffman and Robert Jaeger.