Avis Louise Foss Sinclair, my Mother, was born on this day, March 8, in the year 1914.

She was the daughter of George P. and Stella Foss and grew up in Center Strafford, NH. In 1932, she graduated from Austin Cate Academy, Center Strafford’s high school, where she played cello in the school orchestra and center for the girl’s basketball team. In 1936, she graduated from the Exeter (NH) Hospital Training School for Nurses.

In May of 1941, she married my Father, Francis M. Sinclair, in Exeter, NH.

My Mother was very supportive of my musical endeavors, even in my junior high and early high school years when I played the drums. (It has been said that the mother of a young rock & roll drummer deserves sainthood.) When I became a performing singer/guitarist/songwriter, my Mother and my Father would often come to my gigs, especially when I used to play on Sunday afternoons, outside, at Applecrest Farms in Hampton Falls, NH.

One of my Mother’s favorite songs of mine was “The Ladies of Fairburn.” I recorded and released “Ladies” on my first full-length, cassette-tape album, “Anytime,” in 1988.

Around that time, an Exeter-based AM radio station started a weekend-mornings Folk music show, with a DJ named Rick Parry. I’d listened to Rick through high school when he was on WBCN-FM, out of Boston. Rick was a big supporter of all of the Seacoast NH Folk musicians, readily giving them airplay and promoting up-coming gigs.

When I told my Mother about the radio show and that they had a copy of “Anytime,” and that the DJ took requests from listeners, that’s all she needed to know. She started to call the station on a weekly basis and request “The Ladies of Fairburn” and Rick always played it, even after he figured out who she was. This went on for many months.

So, in honor of her birthday, here it is.

“The Ladies of Fairburn” – words, music, guitar and vocals by Eric Sinclair

The violist is Anne Black.

My Mother passed away on August 5, 2001.

Miss her.