My friend Kate Duncan, who has died aged 43 of cancer, was a writer of short stories and plays that showcased her wry sense of humour and vivid imagination – and which featured a host of quirky characters.
Born in London to Hugh, a heating engineer, and his wife, Dympna (nee Waldron), a civil servant, Kate grew up in Lyme Regis in Dorset, where she went to the West of England School for Children with Little or No Sight on account of congenital problems that affected her eyesight and mobility. Later she attended Woodroffe school in Lyme Regis, where she gained A-level English literature and developed her love of writing.
Kate’s gradually worsening condition made it difficult for her to work full-time, but over the next few years she helped as a volunteer at her old school, until her eyesight failed completely and she began to use a wheelchair.
It was then, in her 30s, that her writing talents came to the fore. Adopting the nom de plume Kitty Waldron so that she could be recognised for her ability rather than her disability, she viewed her writing as a complete form of liberation, and was keen that it should be read on its own terms.
Having started with a few short stories, she made one of them, The Arsonist, into a short comedy for the stage, and it was performed at the Marine theatre in Lyme Regis in 2017 as part of a programme of plays by female writers.
Some of her other plays and monologues, including Blown Away, Brightest Light, Bohemian Cracksody and It’s the Drink Talking, were performed between 2018 and 2023 at the Salisbury Fringe festival, where she was four times runner-up in the annual prize for best new writing – joking that she was at least consistent.
In addition Kate and I collaborated on Rose, a play about blindness and disability that was loosely based on her own circumstances. With Arts Council funding it toured theatres across the south-west of England in 2023. That year a collection of five of Kate’s short stories, The Christmas Chronicles, was published in Lyme Regis; another compilation, Kitty’s Collection, had also come out locally in 2021.
Kate’s success in writing transformed and opened up her life, which she lived to the full. Aside from writing she enjoyed going to the theatre, listening to standup comedy, reading with the aid of BBC Sounds and Audible books, learning to play the saxophone and going to music festivals.
She is survived by her parents and her brother, Paddy.
