Chris & Laura: Romantic and Artistic Partners

... a bonus post for paid subscribers

A number of his close friends have said that Chris Whitley needed a woman in his life to steady him; he tended to run off the rails when on his own. Most Whitley fans know that he met (early 80s), married (1986), and had a daughter Trixie (1987) with Hélène Gevaert, his fellow Noh Rodeo band member in Belgium. The couple and their daughter relocated to New York City in 1988, the family living in a basement studio apartment on West 17th Street & 9th Avenue and Chris working in a picture-frame factory. Chris and Hélène separated in 1993, at which time mother and daughter returned to Belgium.

Chris and Hélène Gevaert; photo from Joepie, 11-23-1986.

Most fans also know that Chris met Susann Buerger, a photograph, in Dresden, Germany and mostly lived with her there. They met when Susann booked Chris to play at a small club (probably Scheune, March 10, 2001) in Dresden. As it turned out, Chris was too inebriated to play. Nonetheless, Susann says that they fell in love there and then; six months later, Chris moved in with Susann and her baby daughter, and they lived together through most of remaining years of Chris’ life.

Chris and Susann, Geneva 2004.

Theirs was a rocky relationship, but Susann was with Chris in Houston when he was in hospice care and when he succumbed to lung cancer on November 20, 2005. She and Howe Gelb spread some of Chris’ ashes in the Sonoran Desert near Tucson over Thanksgiving weekend.

So Hélène from mid 1980s to 1993; Susann from 2001 to 2005. Note the long gap from approximately 1993 - 2001? It’s odd because during that time, Chris was in what may have been the longest romantic relationship of his life. And not just a romantic relationship but an artistic partnership that inspired his song-writing and is evident in the artwork featured on several CD booklets from that time. It’s more than past time to fill that gap and to rectify that omission.

Laura Wiley: Loco Girl

I first ‘encountered’ Laura Wiley (now Laura Wiley-Donohoe) when a Google search for all things “Chris Whitley” led me to her Facebook photos in the early 2010s. There I found and snagged the photo below that Laura had posted on her page:

Chris making fun of himself on the Dirt Floor tour; photo by Laura Wiley.

When I created the ATCW Facebook group in 2013, I invited Laura to join us; ten years later, she did! So that decade-old discovery eventually let to our chats and emails in 2023 and a recent phone call. Much of what I write below is the product of those interactions. Because I respect people’s privacy, that is, their choices about what strangers know about them, all of it has been read and approved by Laura.