This is a sad day for those of who loved Barbara Cloud and her beautiful and moving style of writing as she passed away on Friday, Sept. 14.
Barbara regularly brought her devoted Pittsburgh Press and Post-Gazette readers back to a better time, a more innocent time, and we loved reminiscing with her. She would tell us of the bygone era in which a lady would don gloves to travel to exciting downtown Pittsburgh, something which is difficult to imagine in this time of the "fashion" of white undershirts worn as outerwear and clothes with gaping holes in them.
Even late in life, Barbara was always stylish, fashionable, and beautiful, her many, many years as Press Fashion Editor serving her well, yet she was never haughty. She related so well to her grateful audience and was always down to earth, expressing her dismay over the high cost of certain fashions and other goods and
services.
Barbara and my late mother came to know each other well and there was mutual admiration. Both were young, divorced career women with one son at a time that this was not common or popular, Barbara a columnist and reporter, my mother a piano performer and teacher.
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Barbara came to the visitation for my mother in 2005, something which I shall never forget. I had the pleasure of corresponding with Barbara countless times, most often regarding our mutual love of the precious dogs that have graced our lives and in response to many of the columns she wrote about how dogs have touched and enriched her life. She told me that her latest, and I believe her last canine treasure, Nash, was acquired when he was the age of seven, which she felt was appropriate, given that she, too, was at that time of advanced age.
Given that she had been absent from the Post-Gazette for a long time, I feared that she was gravely ill. How wonderful that she could be with her beloved son Drew by her side at the end of her life. Readers of her column know that he meant everything to her. Also, thankfully, Barbara was able to enjoy a final week at her favorite place to vacation, Stone Harbor, New Jersey.
Through the years, Barbara Cloud had so many gracious and kind words for the people she came to know and admire. There are not enough superlatives with which to adorn her at this sad time, but there are plenty of tears. Rest in peace, dear Barbara. You left an indelible mark and the world was a better place with you in it. You shall be sorely missed.
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