Barbara Birdfeather
{{short description|American disc jockey and astrologer}}
Barbara Birdfeather (September 24, 1940 – April 26, 2009) was an American disc jockey, astrologer, musician and music journalist.
Early life
Birdfeather was born in Mount Kisco, New York on 24 September 1940.{{Cite book |title=Mug Shots; Who's who in the New Earth |last=Acton |first=Jay |publisher=World Publishing Company |year=1972 |isbn=9780529045133 |location=University of Michigan |pages=21 |last2=LeMond |first2=Alan |last3=Hodges |first3=Parker}}{{cite news| url=https://variety.com/2009/scene/people-news/dj-barbara-birdfeather-dies-at-69-1118003038/ | work=Variety | title=DJ Barbara Birdfeather dies at 69 | date=April 30, 2009}}
Career
She began her career writing an astrology for magazines. In 1969 she was described by Time as "one of the brightest young astrologers" in Manhattan while writing for Eye.{{Cite web |title=Modern Living: Astrology: Fad and Phenomenon |url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,839906-2,00.html |last= |first= |date= March 21, 1969|website=Time}} That year she published the book The Birdfeather Astrological Space Book.{{Cite magazine |date= December 8, 1969|title=A new, far our, guide to astrology |magazine=New York Magazine |pages=80 |volume=2 |issue=49}} Possibly her most notable work during this period was her section named "The Bedside Astrologer" for Mademoiselle.{{Cite web |title=When FM Radio Was Free-Form And L.A. Had Barbara Birdfeather |url=https://pastdaily.com/2022/11/12/barbara-birdfeather-when-l-a-radio-was-free-form-and-fm-ruled/ |last=Skene |first=Gordon |date=November 12, 2022 |website=Past Daily}}
After moving to Los Angeles she worked for KMET, KPPC and KPFK as a disc jockey. In 1970 she collaborated with Louise Huebner, Alan Watts, Peter Hurkos and Anton LaVey on the album The Occult Explosion. She later served as publicist for musician Alex Harvey. In 1972 Birdfeather spoke on sex discrimination in the DJ profession with the Pacifica Foundation.{{Cite web |title=Lady broadcasters: do you have to wear a jock to be one? |url=https://www.pacificaradioarchives.org/recording/bc0657 |date= February 2, 1972|access-date=2025-01-18 |website=Pacifica Radio Archives}}
Personal life
Birdfeather subscribed to New Age beliefs and thought that the universe could be split into ages. She held that the world had recently shifted into an "Aquarian age", defined by knowelege being transmitted electronically, from previously being in a "Piscean age", defined by Christ as the Fisher of Man.{{Cite book |title=Demon Possession: Papers Presented at the University of Notre Dame |last=John Warwick |first=Montgomery |publisher=1517 Publishing |year=2018 |isbn=9781945500725 |pages= |author-link=John Warwick Montgomery}}
Later in her life Birdfeather worked as a floral designer. She had one child, a daughter named Isabella, and a granddaughter trought her. Birdfeather died in her home in Hollywood on April 26, 2009, due to lung cancer. After her death her daughter claimed that Birdfeather revealed on her deathbed that her father was musician Bob Dylan.{{Cite book |title=Dylan: The Biography |last=McDougal |first=Dennis |publisher=Turner Publishing Company |year=2014 |isbn=9781630260675 |pages= |author-link=Dennis McDougal}}
Works
- {{Cite book |title=The Birdfeather Astrological Space Book: Tales of the Universe |publisher=Nash Publishing Corporation |year=1969 |isbn=9780840211040}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Discogs artist}}
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Category:20th-century American astrologers
Category:20th-century American women journalists
Category:20th-century American women musicians
Category:American astrological writers
Category:American music journalists
Category:American women columnists
Category:Deaths from lung cancer in California