Gordon Lightfoot supported local effort to memorialize Windsor’s Rosalie Trombley

A letter from the famous Canadian singer-songwriter is all the more special to sculptor Donna Mayne now that Lightfoot has passed away at age 84.

“It’s not every day you get an email from a legend like that,” Mayne told CTV News Tuesday.

Mayne is the sculptor creating a lasting memorial to Trombley, the “girl with the golden ear.”

“When I was sculpting Rosalie, I think I listened to his song ‘Beautiful’ a million times,” said Mayne.

Trombley’s family members reached out to influential people in Canada’s music industry to drum up support for Mayne’s work.

One email to Lightfoot’s team did not disappoint, with a letter of support dated Aug. 30, 2021.

Windsor sculptor Donna Mayne holds a copy of a letter written by Gordon Lightfoot in support of her effort to memorialize Rosalie Trombley in Windsor, Ont. on Tuesday, May 2, 2023. (Michelle Maluske/CTV News Windsor)Windsor sculptor Donna Mayne holds a copy of a letter written by Gordon Lightfoot in support of her effort to memorialize Rosalie Trombley in Windsor, Ont. on Tuesday, May 2, 2023. (Michelle Maluske/CTV News Windsor)

It reads in part, “as a Canadian artist Rosalie helped to export my music to the world. For that reason her accomplishments are culturally significant. The global success of Canadian recording artists to this day finds its roots in Rosalie's endeavors.”

“It was jaw-dropping to open that (email) and find his support. It’s an honour,” Mayne said Tuesday.

Mayne also notes Lightfoot’s signature appears to be a little bit shaky.

“He's signed it even though he had a broken wrist,” she said.

“Very sad news on Gordon’s passing,” Tim Trombley, Rosalie’s son, wrote CTV News in an email Tuesday. “He’s a Canadian legend for sure. CKLW played a significant role in breaking ‘If You Could Read My Mind’ into the U.S. Rosalie had great respect for Gordon’s song writing and felt a particular connection (to that song), finding the lyrics highly relatable.”

In his letter, Lightfoot wrote, “Personally, I am grateful that Rosalie added/played many of my records in high rotation.”

“Artists like Gordon Lightfoot, (it’s) not every day you get that kind of email. And it was unbelievable to hear how much he respected her influence on Canadian music,” said Mayne.

The Rosalie sculpture is finished in clay and is at the foundry to be cast in bronze while they wait for a limestone “Big 8” to be built and placed on a slab of granite before the sculpture will be unveiled, according to Mayne.