Gail Collins

Gail Collins Pappalardi (February 2, 1941 in USA - December 6, 2013 in Ajijic, Jalisco, Mexico) was a lyricist and an artist, and also the wife of Felix Pappalardi (Mountain). She contributed lyrics to many Mountain songs and co-wrote Cream's World of Pain with Pappalardi, and Strange Brew with Pappalardi and Eric Clapton. Both songs are included on the album Disraeli Gears. As Gail Collins, her artwork appears on six of the seven, original Mountain album covers; Climbing!, Nantucket Sleighride, Mountain Live: The Road Goes Ever On, Twin Peaks and Avalanche.

On April 17, 1983, Gail Collins Pappalardi shot and kiled her husband in their NYC apartment by a single gunshot to his neck at close range. They led a troubled, "open" marriage, and she claimed it was an accident. She served a short term in prison, and disappeared from public life. She was found dead in a small, Mexican village where many American expats live, after having been treated for cancer for some time.