Katie Lee to be inducted into Arizona Music Hall of Fame

JEROME - Katie Lee, one of the best known residents of this historic mining town, will be inducted into the Arizona Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame during an evening ceremony at the Elks Theater in Prescott Oct. 1. The induction ceremony will be part of the 33rd Annual Folk Music Festival at Sharlot Hall Museum Oct 1-2.

Joining a long list of Hall of Fame inductees, including Stevie Nicks, Dick Van Dyke, Tanya Tucker, The Kingston Trio and Steven Spielberg, Katie said she is honored to have been selected.

"You should see the list of everybody already inducted," she said.

Linda Ronstadt, another inductee, once told Katie, "I listened to your records since I was a kid."

Noel Fray, Jerome resident and member of the Hall of Fame's board of directors, said the idea behind the Arizona Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame is to recognize people who have had an impact on Arizona through entertainment.

"Katie, through music and writing, has been an outspoken activist for the environment," Fray said. "I've known her for years. She has been a strong entertainer."

A press release from Sharlot Hall Museum about the Folk Music Festival states that, "Katie Lee is an Arizona icon who began her career as a stage and screen actress before becoming a fixture in coffeehouses and cabarets throughout the U.S., Canada and Mexico as a folksinger. She has emerged as one of the Southwest's most outspoken environmental activists, using her music and feisty eloquence to both entertain and educate."

Katie, who will turn 92 in October, said she went to Hollywood in 1948. It was there that she began her professional career as a stage and screen actress. In addition to bit parts in motion pictures, Katie had running parts on major NBC radio shows, including The Great Gildersleeve and The Railroad Hour with Gordon McRae.

Katie was an actress and folk music director on the The Telephone Hour with Helen Parrish. She eventually left Hollywood to pursue her folk singing career.

"In the beginning, I was working in coffee houses," she said. "I was traveling by myself all over the United States in my T-Bird (1955). Just me and my guitar."

Through the years, Katie has built up an impressive list of credits. She has written books, songs and poems. Many of her photographs, songs and poems have been published in periodicals and anthologies such as Arizona Highways, Mountain Gazette, American Whitewater Journal and many others.

In addition to recording numerous albums, Katie has been interviewed on National Public Radio, and she has been featured in television and independent film specials. She also has won a number of awards, including the Cine Golden Eagle Award in 1972 for her documentary film The Last Wagon.

The Folk Music Festival takes place Oct. 1-2 on campus of Sharlot Hall Museum, 415 W. Gurley St. in Prescott, and at the Elks Theater at 117 E. Gurley St.