https://symphony.org/obituary-blair-tindall-oboist-and-author-of-mozart-in-the-jungle-which-pulled-back-the-curtain-on-classical-music-63/

Less than a week ago I didn't know who Blair Tindall was. A radio commentator used one of her oboe solos as bumper music and I was immediately taken with the beauty she wielded on that instrument, very emotional, almost like a human voice. In the next breath he paid tribute, lamenting her death last year at 63. That didn't come as such a shock after finishing her tell-all memoir "Mozart In The Jungle" with the can't-miss subtitle "Sex, Drugs and Classical Music".

For the general public, before Blair there was an image of classical players as slightly stuffy, cloistered musicians who dressed in tuxes and evening dresses and performed to highbrow audiences equally decked out, the polar opposite of the world of rock stars and fans. According to Blair's book, nothing could have been further from the truth: she and most of her fellow, fiercely dedicated colony drank, toked, snorted and bedded their way through whirlwind careers performing under the batons of some of the most famous conductors of the age. It was certainly true of her. A contributing cause to her premature death was "ethanol poisoning", which near as I can figure means she drank so heavily that eventually there was more alcohol in her bloodstream than blood and that killed her. It certainly didn't seem to detract from her playing, which was widely admired by her peers.

Aside from the sexy subject matter, her memoir was an irresistable read and was made into a miniseries starring Malcolm McDowell.

Oddly, even a little eerily, her personal website is still up with no mention of her passing and unavailability for speaking engagements.

RIP Blair. You certainly left your mark on the world the short time you were here.