Kathryn Hays was an incredibly beautiful woman with not only timeless grace, but a blunt candor and authenticity to her work and persona that you couldn't fake. We loved her for a lot of reasons. But to me the enduring mystery is something older. The aura and heart in her work obviously fascinated Irna Phillips, who created the enigma of Kim Sullivan we now constantly struggle to decipher today, given the lack of classic episodes available to us during her inception. Kim was Irna's doppleganger/fantasy self, the unwed woman or mother, a woman who had affairs, was fallen yet still the heroine, something which usually seemed unthinkable for Phillips' seemingly moralistic view of many of her characters. To her, Kim was the 'lady in the mirror.' That's the story I am still eager to know more of.
Hays' class, warmth and loving strength onscreen was immortal and I'm glad we got to see her again on the Locher Room before it was too late. I thought she had a lot more years. I guess what she had was just enough. Knowing her, she'd never want us to complain. RIP.