Anie was from Hattiesburg, Mississippi and kept some of her Southern accent and charm until the end. She came
to Pondicherry in 1968 with her husband, Narad (Richard Eggenberger), and had Mother's Darshan. She spent four
years in India and subsequently led a life of service to the Ashram and Auroville back in the U.S. She maintained a
correspondence with Mother and even received Mother's intervention for her recovery after a car accident in the U.S.
She and Narad had one of the first health food stores in New York City. Both were professional singers in the choir
of Saint Bartholomew's among many other jobs. Anie was an understudy and nun in the first Broadway production
of the "Sound of Music" and was also in the national touring company. She had numerous good friends in show
business including the Smothers Brothers. Richard Rogers called her the "Fiat (sportscar) with the Big Horn",
because even with her diminutive size, she could project her strong soprano voice.
Anie was close to Jyotipriya (Dr. Judith Tyberg) founder of the East West Cultural Center (EWCC) in Los Angeles,
as well as Sam Spanier and Eric Hughes, who founded Matagiri Sri Aurobindo Center in Mount Tremper, NY. She
helped at the Sri Aurobindo International Center in Manhattan and lived with Scott (Lalit) Fullman in the apartment
across the hall. Anie also served as the first Board Member of the Foundation for World Education after the passing
of founder Eleanor Montgomery.
She taught music in New York City, Woodstock (where she also sang in the choir) and Los Angeles and had very
warm relationships with her many students. She moved back to LA and had a close relationship with Stuart Schoen
and then after his passing returned to her native Hattiesburg. She was invited to return to LA to become the resident
director of the Sri Aurobindo Center of Los Angeles (former EWCC). She developed a deep friendship with Michael
Spector, whose healing work was helpful to her in her later years and they decided to move to Pondicherry, living on
Candapa Muldiar Street.
In 1999 Anie had returned to the Ashram to interview disciples who had been close to Mother. After receiving a
positive response to the publication of these interviews in the U.S, she returned to create a collection of twelve
published as "The Golden Path" (please read Mangesh Nadkarni's review online). Since her return to Pondicherry
she started work on a follow-up volume when her kidney failure produced a series of strokes. She recovered from
the first two setbacks and most recently visited Auroville in mid-February for a concert of flute and poetry by Gordon
and Jeanne Korstange.
A few days later she had a more severe stroke limiting her speech and movement on her left side. Anie still rallied
enough to speak with visitors. Vikas, a good friend from the Sri Aurobindo Center of Los Angeles, found her whole
demeanor inspiring and felt a profound Grace was protecting her from what should have been a very painful process.
Friends from the US and France contributed to a fund for her hospital stay and dialysis supplies and sent supporting
messages faithfully conveyed by Michael. Dr. Dutta kindly brought her into the Ashram Nursing Home for her final
weeks.
Michael reflected, "It was a great adventure for us starting at the Sri Aurobindo center in LA and moving after three
years to Pondy Anie new it was time and planned happily to return to India into the Mother's arms. She was all grace,
charm,beauty along with childlike stubbornness a solid sense of responsibility and a touchingly profound devotion to
all that is good and uplifting. We were brought closely together by the wondrous spirit of music and art ...so much of it !!!
We sang and danced and meditated and shared these last years living together with joyous laughter and ever deepening
communion with Sri Aurobindo and Mother."
A retrospective album of photos is online at this link: https://goo.gl/photos/Z9aAtm6Jn2udMQBr9 - Julian Lines
The East-West Cultural Center will hold a memorial to honor the life of Anie Nunnally. We will notify all members once
we have selected a time and date.
Anne Nunnally (Anie) passed at the Sri Aurobindo Ashram Nursing home at 11:30 pm April 25th at the age of 80.
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The East West Cultural Center
www.sriaurobindocenter-la.org
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