Caroline Hakim

Caroline Hakim, 83, died of congestive heart failure on May 31, 2007 at her home in Old Las Palmas, Palm Springs. She was born October 30, 1924. An impresario of children's music education programs for many years, she had been President of the Chamber Opera Society of Palm Springs where she worked with her friends, Dr. Martin Russell and the late Theresa Hudson to create the Alliance for Children's Arts. In this she was influenced by her mother, the late Henrietta Bacher, who was a leader in the effort to bring opera to Palm Springs, and her father, the late William Bacher, a prominent radio and film producer for 20th Century Fox where he brought to the screen Wing and a Prayer (1944), Leave her to Heaven (1945), and The Foxes of Harrow (1947) among others. After stints in New York and Chicago, the Bachers lived in Bel Aire, CA during Caroline's formative years. She had a picture of herself among the children attending Shirley Temple's eighth birthday party. The somewhat contradictory romances of Hollywood stardom and artistic excellence were a guiding force in her life, and she defended her admittedly "elitist" tastes and efforts to bring children to appreciate great works of music and theater in a 1993 opinion piece in the Desert Sun: "We offer--to children of the appropriate age and with extensive preparation-- encounters with the classics come scritto (as written). We do not censor, simplify, adapt, modernize, improve, clean up, make culturally correct or relevant. Really great art is always, in some sense, relevant. But we do not make it so." However, her elitist taste did not rule out her efforts to include the Twenty Nine Palms Marine Corps Band as a regular feature in her program for children. Her grant-writing efforts in support of these children's programs brought the classics to over 30,000 students each year-often dressing up in period costume to entertain the students. She also wrote dozens of illustrated children's study books explaining the history of opera, composers, the historical background, and traditions. "Let me tell you," she said in an interview with her longtime college friend, Harriet Trueblood in the Mills College Quarterly, " the arts are not for prissies or sissies. The arts are full of blood, guts, gore, pillage, kinky sex, and war. Being quizzed about castrati, codpieces, chastity belts, and how medieval knights went to the bathroom in all that armor test the mettle of the already-terrified docent." Before moving to Palm Springs in the mid-1970's, Hakim had been a food consultant and publicist, writing cookbooks and supervising food photography. She often described her efforts to make vegetables look enticing in advertisements. She handled advertising accounts for Adolph's Meat Tenderizer, Galliano Liqueur, and the California avocado, strawberry, and Brussels sprouts industries. An avid collector of costumes, dresses, hats, and shoes, she is remembered by successive generations of girl relatives for teaching them the "proper" way to put on lipstick, using three layers to insure long-lasting color. In 1958, Caroline married Edgar Hakim, an advertising executive. They divorced in 1971, but remained close friends until the end of her life, often visiting one another and their friends Harriet and Dr. Sam Trueblood in Los Angeles. A graduate of Mills College in 1946, Hakim was attached to her alma mater where "I learned to craft and present speeches to any audience, anywhere" But her great joy was bringing music to children. A few days before she died, she told Harriet Trueblood that she was still working, recording music for the children. She is survived by her former husband, Edgar Hakim of Los Angeles; cousins, Ralph Glasgal of Rockleigh, NK, Ann Snitow of New York, Alan Snitow of Berkeley, Gerry Weinstein, and Martin Weinstein, both of New York; her dear friends Harriet and Dr. Sam Trueblood of Los Angeles; Dr. Martin Russell of Palm Springs; and her wonderful family of caretakers, Mila Acu and Tessie Lacbay. A memorial ceremony was held at her home on June 14, 2007.