Intertwined with Heather's origin story is a gentleman named Ioan Allen, a Dolby Laboratories lifer. Ioan was in large part responsible for Dolby Audio for film. He has probably known Heather longer than anyone still extant, and below he explains how she happened to come to New York.
The Young Tradition were formed in around 1965, and met Ioan Allen (then in folk music management) about then. A couple of years later they asked him to manage the group. Despite their success and international fame the group separated (creative differences!). Around the same time (1969) Ioan was asked to join Dolby Laboratories, based in London. His friendship with Heather continued. From 1972 on Ioan and Dolby began moving the company into film sound, and Ioan met Steve Katz in NY.
The film program needed a presence in LA, and Ioan hired Steve to take on that role. He joined Dolby in 1974, and moved to LA in 1975. In 1974 Ioan needed more assistance at Dolby, and hired Heather to provide office administration in their UK office, and during that period Steve met Heather. Dolby moved its headquarters from London to San Francisco in 1976, and Heather was actively involved in the move logistics. San Francisco was not a good fit for her, and she moved to live in New York in around 1976.
Her friendship with Ioan continued for the next 4 decades, until ending with her tragic death. One of her last recordings was a solo album produced by Ioan, recorded at Dolby Laboratories sometime in the early 2010's. Her singing always thrilled, helped by the bottle of sherry she always had with her in the studio. Ioan says: "The best goddam singing tank-driver I've ever met -- or will ever meet!"
I compromised with Ioan on the year - he said '77, I think '75, so '76 it is. Two minor points;