Kansas City, MO – Local activist and former music store owner, Anne Winter, 45, died Thursday in her home. For over two decades, Winter's name has been linked to the music and cultural scene in Kansas City.
For 18 years, Winter and her business partner/husband Kurt Von Schlemmer owned and operated Recycled Sounds, a midtown Kansas City record store on Main Street. Recycled Sounds hosted in-store performances by local or touring bands, promoted CDs by local bands, and hired local musicians as part-time staffers. The store closed in April 2006.
In 1988, Winter helped start the Greater Kansas City Coalition Against Censorship, which later changed its name to the Free Speech Coalition. The group helped establish an annual celebration of free speech, Culture Under Fire, and lobbied to keep controversial books in school libraries. It brought in speakers like filmmaker Michael Moore and newspaper columnist Molly Ivins.
Winter also hosted a music program on KKFI-FM as "Little Orphan Annie."
An active parent of two children, Winter served as president of the PTA at Border Star Montessori School. Among other projects, Winter worked on creating a new home for an organic farmers' market in the school's parking lot.
There will be a special practice (puja) Friday, October 23, 2009 at 7:30 p.m. at the Rime Center, 700 W Pennway St, Kansas City, MO. Friends also plan to install a memorial in the former storefront window of Recycled Sounds.
A visitation is scheduled from 5 to 8 p.m. Monday, October 26, 2009 and a service at 1 p.m. Tuesday, October 27, 2009 both at the Muehlebach Funeral Home, 6800 Troost.
Read Anne Winter's obituary here.
