Shirley Lasseter

Item Data

  • Collection Title: Shirley Lasseter Collection
  • Item Title: Kathy Cantwell, "Celebration of Life," 2010
  • ID Number: SL-046
  • Date Range: June 2010
  • Description: Video of the "Celebration of Life," held in Kathy Cantwell's honor as, at her request, a fundraiser for the preservation of Little Orange Creek. Dr. Cantwell died just a month later.
  • Biographical/Historical Note: Pediatrician and environmental activist, Kathy Cantwell, M.D., was born September 8, 1949, in Troy, NY, and died in Gainesville, FL, July 20, 2010. She was a founder of Belles on Bykes, which is documented in Lasseter's "Tits & Belles," (D-49 SL-049) She was also a wilderness backpacker and canoed. In 1988, a car crashed into her while she was bicycling. From that time forward, she was confined to a wheelchair. She closed her practice and dedicated the next two decades to fighting for the environment. She headed the Suwannee-St. Johns Group of the Sierra Club, served on the board of Women for Wise Growth, chaired the Clean Air and Water Political Action Committee of Alachua County, and belonged to several other environmental boards and committees. She was a driving force behind the preservation of Little Orange Creek and the establishment of Little Orange Creek Conservation & Environmental Center. In 2010, at age 60, she was diagnosed with a brain tumor. She chose to have her "Celebration of Life" while she was still alive and turned into a fundraiser for Little Orange Creek. She chose a green burial, the first at the Prairie Creek Conservation Cemetery. Shirley Lasseter's collection includes several pieces that in which Dr. Cantwell appears: SL-035, SL-0936, SL-045, SL-046, SL-049, and SL-054.
  • Genres: Amateur Films
  • Places: Hippodrome Theater, Gainesville, FL
  • Access & Use: Contact Lesbian Home Movie Project (LHMP) info@lesbianhomemovieproject.org. No re-use without permission. LHMP must contact film donor & participants with regard to any re-use.
  • Color or B&W: Color
  • Related Versions:
  • Running Time: 10:15
  • Rights: Lesbian Home Movie Project (LHMP) shares rights with Shirley Lasseter during Lasseter's lifetime. Participants also have the right to approve uses of material they appear in during their lifetimes.
  • Sound: Sound
  • Subjects: Lesbians, Environment,
  • Creators: Shirley Lasseter
  • Collaborators & Participants: Kathy Cantwell Julie Thayer For further information or to share related memories, email us at info@lesbianhomemovieproject.org. We'll share your input if that's okay, or just preserve it.
  • Source Format: DVD
  • Format: DVD
  • Viewing Log: Video of the "Celebration of Life," held in Kathy Cantwell's honor as, at her request, a fundraiser for the preservation of Little Orange Creek. Dr. Cantwell died just a month later. Celebrants gather. Three people, including Shirley Lasseter, introduce the program while Dr. Cantwell listens from her wheelchair, with her partner Julie Thayer by her side. 03:15 Dr. Cantwell speaks 07:22 Audience mills. 07:35 Video piece, "Kathy at Little Orange Creek the grant is funded!"