Kathryn Taylor, trails activist, dies at 55
Most of those trails are gone now, but a few remain thanks to Ms. Taylor's activism. In 1988, she formed the King County Executive Horse Council, which helped preserve miles of trails from encroaching development. The group also succeeded in persuading several Eastside cities to create equestrian zoning.
Ms. Taylor died July 13 at her Redmond home. The cause of death was heart failure brought on by complications from lupus. She was 55.
A longtime Redmond resident, she was a tireless advocate for preserving open space and wildlife habitat on the Eastside. She belonged to the Sensible Growth Alliance, which backed regulations to protect King County wetlands. She also served on an advisory board that helped create a massive zoning and land-use plan for King County in the early 1990s.
Ms. Taylor, who once called herself a "barn goddess," cultivated the image of a woodsy outdoorswoman who liked to tramp around in manure and tend her two Arabian horses, miniature poodles and other pets.
"She would take in animals that were in distress," said her brother David Taylor of Longview.
She was also a savvy activist who often grabbed attention at King County Metropolitan and Redmond City council meetings by testifying with a poodle tucked under her arm or in her purse.
Ms. Taylor sometimes made eyes roll with her passionate rhetoric. She testified that the construction of Redmond Town Center would "break my heart."
She also once compared Redmond to a "glutton" because of a planning-commission proposal to annex two planned communities. Yet she was respected because she was so knowledgeable and articulate, said John Couch, a former employee of the Redmond Parks and Recreation Department.
He said that she and a small group of other activists helped make Redmond a more livable place.
"I don't think there's quite as many people that day in and day out dedicate themselves to causes like she did," he said.
Ms. Taylor was born in Tacoma in 1946 and grew up in Spokane. She earned her bachelor's degree in music from the University of Washington in 1969 and went on to teach voice at Pacific Lutheran University, but a lupus diagnosis cut her career short in the early 1970s.
She later directed and performed with several local musical-theater organizations. She also hosted a show called "Kathy's Music Box" on the now-defunct local station KRAB, and she was an occasional host for KUOW in the 1970s and 1980s.
She had always loved horses but didn't acquire one until after her lupus diagnosis. It was at that point that she realized the need to preserve Eastside horse trails, her brother said.
She is also survived by another brother, Fred Taylor of Mukilteo.
Catherine Tarpley can be reached at 206-464-8255 or ctarpley@seattletimes.com.