NORWALK, CONN. Gail Porter died Thursday, July 17th at her home in Norwalk, Ct. at the age of 67. She was a resident of New Canaan for over 55 years. Born April 16, 1941 in New York City to Louis Hopkins Porter of Stamford and Regina McKinney of New York City, Gail attended New Canaan Country School, The Ethel Walker School, in Simsbury Connecticut and graduated from Vassar College with a Bachelor's degree in English Literature. Upon graduation from Vassar, Gail studied anthropology with Margaret Meade at Columbia University. She worked on the production on the 1967 film, "Bonnie and Clyde" directed by Arthur Penn, and on several other independent film and theatre productions. Like her father, Louis, Gail was an artist who focused instead on photography and was a member of the creative group Photographics in New Canaan during the 70's & 80's. She loved reading, writing, photography, politics, travel and most of all nature and animals. For several years, she had her own farm in Vista, NY where she gardened, had many animals and grew organic produce. She seemed happiest when she was outdoors because it calmed her; the natural world made more sense to her than the world of people and was able to see that behind all the misery and fear in the world there was humor and beauty; she was always ready to laugh, even at herself. During her years of travel, she visited much of Europe and the Middle East and for several years lived in Essaouira, Morocco where she maintained a home for several years. Gail is survived by her only daughter, Melanie Regina Khadija Torres, who lives & works in New York City. A memorial celebration will be held on Saturday, July 26, 2008 at 5:30PM in the New Canaan Nature Center Visitors Center, 144 Oenoke Ridge Rd, New Canaan, CT, 06840. In lieu of flowers, family and friends suggest contributions be made to New Canaan Nature Center, Attn: Kevin Kelley, 144 Oenoke Ridge, New Canaan, CT 06840 203-966-9577 www.newcanaannature.org. Arrangements are under the direction of Norwalk's Hoyt-Cognetta Funeral Home & Crematory, 5 East Wall Street.
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