There is no one like her - Janet Julian

Watch Video of the entire celebration - Photo by Johnny Slidell -

Three hundred and fifty people gathered at the Alberta Rose Theater on April 12, 2026 to celebrate the remarkable life and spirit of Janet Julian.

Photo by Jeremy Wilson

“It's been a lesson to me to watch her create this community, this group of people. And it's not just you. It’s 10 times the number of you, a 1000 times the number of you that wish they could have been here. . . It’s all of you that made her who she was ultimately in her life. 

“She achieved her life's goal through dint of her own effort, but also by dint of her own determination to survive and love. She loved all of you, and she finally embraced, after 70-some years, the fact that other people loved her.” - Janet’s sister, Nancy

Photo still from mediacampus.com

It was a memorial unlike any other, for a person who was unlike any other. 

Janet Julian died on January 6, 2026, courageously living every moment until the end, even while coming to peace with her death.

Her celebration of life brought together, in Jeremy Wilson’s greeting words, those who knew Janet as “a neighbor, an artist, a bandmate, a musician, a collaborator, a farmers market pal, a community activist and advocate, a fellow traveler.”  The Alberta Rose, where she donated her artwork at so many fundraising events, was also filled with coffee lovers, people who called her auntie, those she had met on her many walks – and others lucky enough to have seen her smile, loved her artwork and heard her voice.

The theater was filled with flowers and colors, as if Janet’s buoyant spirit was right there with us. 

Jeremy told us, “She would have wanted this to feel like one of her shows at the Laurelthirst: full of energy, full of heart, maybe a little chaotic, and completely alive.” And it was, indeed.

The event interspersed personal memories and reflections with music – music she had created, music written for her and about her, music she loved, all performed by the people who loved her. Her artwork was beautifully displayed on a screen, along with photos of Janet’s full life. (photo of Petty Cash Players by Alexa Wiley)

The celebration culminated in a procession led by the Webfoot Brass Band to Concordia Commons, a favorite spot of Janet’s, where friends could continue connecting and reminiscing – and eating pie.

The stories were lovely, sweet, funny, bawdy and delightfully Janet. We are happy to share some of these with you.

From Jeremy Wilson

She was the first and only friend I have ever had who would call me on a regular basis just to talk, to check in, to follow up on a conversation, or to make sure I was OK.

She’d also call just to tell me how excited she was about a piece of art she was working on. It would go something like this: 

Janet, right off the top, at 100 miles an hour — “Oh! You didn’t have to answer. I was just going to leave a message. I know you’re busy.” 

Me: “Janet, Janet. Of course I’m going to answer…” 

And that was about what I’d get out. She’d go on for 20 minutes, then end with, “OK. I’ve had a ton of coffee. Love you Jeremy!” Occasionally getting a call back one minute later: “Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you…” before signing off the exact same way. I always left those conversations smiling and happy.

From Nancy Julian:

She was like the nucleus of an atom, and you all were the cloud of electrons around her, and you became what she searched for her whole life, to be the nucleus of a cloud of electrons. And that radiation goes out into the world, and you are going to carry that radiation out into the world. Whether you bought one of her little pieces at Crafty Wonderland, or whether you saw her in a retirement home performance that she loved to do, whether you were an intimate acquaintance or an old boyfriend. 

And God knows there's a string of old boyfriends out there. And the amazing thing about that string of old boyfriends is they get along, because they know they spent time with her, and they're all in it together,

Janet & Anthony

Anthony Long told us of one of the first days he spent in Janet’s present. Under her seemingly random instructions, they met at Cully Farmers Market; then perused an estate sale; then Janet told everyone they were making her late to the Blues Festival. After a few more stops, he remembers Janet using a British accent to tell a long joke in a gift shop. 

He remembered, “And she's being loud and silly in this tiny gift shop. And all of a sudden this head pops in. He's smiling, and he's not going anywhere until she finishes the joke. And then, we follow him outside, and he runs up on the stage. It's Robert Plant.”

Let it be noted: Janet fought her mother for ownership of her grandmother’s book of off-color jokes – and won.

So many stories: How Janet cajoled Ralph Huntley into buying a colorful, if rather hideous, jacket while hitting thrift shops together. Decades later, he wore that jacket to show us Janet’s influence. It reminds him, too, how Janet taught him not to take everything so seriously.

About Ralph’s walk through Coney Island on a gray day –  a walk that, as all walks with Janet, became an adventure, turning the run-down bleakness of an old amusement park into an art appreciation experience. The grande finale included a lady in a babushka exuberantly peeing on a front stoop.

We learned how she was the favorite auntie of Esme and her sister, whose parents owned Extracto Coffee, one of Janet’s homes away from home. How Janet refused to lower her voice in the coffee shop, despite the scowls of intense computer users, and reminding them – loudly – “This isn’t a library!” 

And how she filled Extracto with glorious art, so the family calls her “The Patron Saint of Art and Dirty Jokes.”

How she donated many of her prized found objects to kids’ crafts projects, and how she loved to sit with the children as they created.

Janet & Dan Haley

Cathy Zwicker quoted an artist who said she was never quite sure if somebody was Janet’s longtime friend or was meeting Janet for the first time, because Janet treated everyone with the same amount of curiosity and care.

Cathy said, “I truly believe that my life and what I do might look different if I hadn't met Janet. What a gift she gave me, and based on the tributes I've read online and what I've seen today, what a gift she gave everyone who knew her. Janet was and is a legend and a magical unicorn, and now she's our angel.”

And some final, beautiful, blessings from sister Nancy:

“I have to tell you all: She was happier in the last year and a half of her life than I've ever known her to be. And it's because she found and accepted and embraced and inhaled the family that she had created, the family that rallied around her, that circled her from 1000 miles away.”

Janet Julian Art

Janet, who spent countless hours volunteering for the JWF and who contributed thousands of dollars worth of artwork to help other musicians, has asked that you consider a donation to the foundation in her memory.

You can learn more about Janet’s life & art here.