The first time I saw Merrick was at the 1961 Mariposa festival at the Oval park in Orillia. He must have made an impression on me, because I remembered him the next time Isaw him, at the school where I was teaching in 1985 when he entertained us as a part of Mariposa In The Schools. Our next meeting was when we both played at the Unusual Musical Instruments workshop circa 1996? at the Mariposa Folk Festival. I was playing the long neck mandolin and my wife was playing the hammered dulcimer and the bowed psaltry. Merrick's daughter Kate and her husband John also had a bowed psaltry and we heard a psaltry duet. I told Merrick what an honour it was to play on the same stage with him and we vowed to keep in touch. This was the beginning of some wonderful nights at Kate and John's with Merrick and other friends. I had a chance to visit with Merrick, Kate and John a few months before his passing at my friend and musical partner Al Kirby's. It was a wonderful musical night, and although Merrick didn't feel up to playing, he shared his wonderful stories with us.
It was a pleasure to know you Merrick.