Judith Gennett

Judith Gennett, a folk DJ and music reviewer with a particular interest in “Euroroots” music, lost her battle with cancer on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 24.

As the host of The Raggle Taggle Gypsy, which aired Sunday afternoons on Portland, Oregon’s KPSU, from 2002-2010, Gennett exposed listeners to a wide array of European roots music. Her playlist ranged from polkas to Celtic, from Balkan to folk metal, and from nyckelharpa to hurdy gurdy. Gennett, who had been engaged in folk radio since 1995, when she began hosting an English and Celtic show on KEOS in Bryan – College Station, Texas, also wrote reviews for such music publications and websites as Dirty Linen, Fame, Green Man Review, and RootsWorld –- many of which are archived on her own ColumbiaGypsy.net.

Born and raised in Alabama, Gennett lived in The Dalles, Oregon, near the Columbia River. She held a doctorate in geology from Texas A & M and, as a palynologist, was trained to look at spores and pollen – both living and fossil. She also loved travel, wine and photography and exploring her family’s history. Besides playing and reviewing the music of others, Gennett enjoyed sacred harp singing and contra dancing and liked to play the fiddle – although she professed to not doing it very well.