Patsi Bale Cox, Music Journalist, Dies at 66

Patsi Bale Cox, the best-selling author who assisted superstars Tanya Tucker, Loretta Lynn, Wynonna Judd, Tony Orlando, Pat Benatar and others in penning their autobiographies, died in Nashville on Saturday (Nov. 5), following a long battle with emphysema. She was 66.

A native of Kansas who moved from Denver to Nashville in 1983, Cox shared a long association with Garth Brooks, whom she first met while writing bios and press materials for the Nashville-based publicity firm Gurley & Company, which handled public relations for Garth's label, Capitol Records. She continued to work with the superstar until the release of his Wal-Mart-issued collection in 2005.

In an exclusive interview with The Boot, after the publication of her book examining the influence Garth had on the music industry, Cox shared a special personal memory she had of the Oklahoma native.

"After 'The Dance' had been out, a friend of mine lost her husband and that song was a huge influence on her," she told The Boot. "I told Garth about that and told him she was going to visit me. I picked her up at the airport, and we went to a party for Garth. I had not talked to him in a month-and-a-half, but when he saw us come in, he walked straight across the room and he said, 'Patsi, is this the friend you were telling me about?' I said yes, and he immediately talked to her in a wonderful way about her loss. It was a stunning thing for him to remember me talking about her and relate to it. There was nothing phony about that. It was a very caring thing."

Respected for her journalistic skill as well as her sharp wit, Cox reached the New York Times bestsellers list several times. She had been working on a book about Kenny Rogers at the time of her death.