Bruce Olson. RIP, Oct 31, 2003

Subject: RE: Bruce Olson. RIP
From: Bill D
Date: 04 Nov 03 - 11:01 AM

It is well to note that Bruce had mellowed (or simply decided to shrug *smile*) quite a bit the last year...mostly because Mudcat had moved the BS threads to the bottom and because there were simply more genuine music threads for him to peruse. Recent signed posts were his acknowlegement that this place had it's virtues, and I suspect he would have done a lot more if fate had not intervened.

If there is any moral in all of this, it is that there can be a place for all here if we manage our disputes more gently and go easy on the complaints. Bruce was not the first to succumb to the temptation to use anonymity to voice dissatisfaction, but I hope the point is not lost that it is usually a counterproductive exercise.

....nuff said. I will attend his memorial service with my head full of good memories of this amazing man.

Subject: RE: Bruce Olson. RIP
From: open mike
Date: 04 Nov 03 - 03:18 PM

looks like his last post was on jan 19 2000?

Subject: RE: Bruce Olson. RIP
From: GUEST,MMario
Date: 04 Nov 03 - 03:33 PM

no - he was posting this summer

Subject: RE: Bruce Olson. RIP
From: Mark Clark
Date: 04 Nov 03 - 03:41 PM

He posted quite a bit lately. If you check my post above, you'll be able to find most of his posts. The last one I've found in which he identified himself is stamped 03 Oct 03 - 09:40 AM.

      - Mark

Subject: RE: Bruce Olson. RIP
From: Jon W.
Date: 04 Nov 03 - 03:59 PM

I too appreciated Bruce's scholarship and willingness to share. We won't soon forget you, Bruce.

Subject: RE: Bruce Olson. RIP
From: GUEST,Pete Peterson
Date: 05 Nov 03 - 09:36 AM

SO sad to read this! Life is short and we don't get to do all the things we'd like to do, and I never got the chance to tell him how much I appreciated his scholarship and willingness to share it!

Subject: RE: Bruce Olson. RIP
From: GUEST
Date: 05 Nov 03 - 10:03 AM

From another anon poster, all I can say is the only thing sadder than Bruce's passing is the hypocrisy being exhibited in his memorial thread by those who trashed him in life, yet for their own personal self-aggrandizement, come here praising him in death. How typical of the Mudcat Royals, who WERE the members who trashed him in this forum and drove him out of their midst.

Perhaps that is the best Mudcat memorial of all to Bruce--that their hypocrisy will remain in this thread for all to see.

Subject: RE: Bruce Olson. RIP
From: Bill D
Date: 05 Nov 03 - 10:35 AM

*sigh*....as I said above......

Subject: RE: Bruce Olson. RIP
From: GUEST
Date: 05 Nov 03 - 02:14 PM

*sigh*...one man's opinion doesn't negate another's...no matter how hard some might try.

Subject: RE: Bruce Olson. RIP
From: GUEST,Lighter
Date: 05 Nov 03 - 02:22 PM

He knew more about old songs than any ten of us combined. "Irreplaceable" is right, and in more ways than one.

Subject: RE: Bruce Olson. RIP
From: Jeri
Date: 05 Nov 03 - 02:51 PM

I also noticed he wasn't at the Getaway. I knew he'd been in the hospital prior to that and wondered if he was OK.

I guess I thought he sounded a bit terse on Mudcat, but didn't think it was as big a deal as some did. I do remember his GUEST#2 stuff, but he wasn't very good at being a meany. (And I remember the Physicists thread where he got on an anon rant, slipped up by posting his name and came back with something like "Whoops...oh well."

I met Bruce a few times, and only spoke very briefly, I got a bit more of an impression. He didn't seem to do small talk well and seemed a bit shy. Get him talking about songs though, and he'd share whatever information he had with whomever wanted to listen. The vast amount of research he'd done and knowledge he'd accumulated was a bit intimidating to me - that was just due to my own shortcomings and nothing he tried to do or, I think, would be happy about. (I've been intimidated by some of the most incredibly positive people.) He was as passionate in researching music as some of us are in singing or playing it.

Subject: RE: Bruce Olson. RIP
From: Roger in Baltimore
Date: 05 Nov 03 - 06:31 PM

There is not much I can add, so I will repeat for emphasis.

I am awed everytime I meet some one who is so involved in their hobby that they are better at it than those who are paid for the same work. When it came to folk songs, Bruce was one of those people.

He was one of the people I really wanted to meet when I attended my first Getaway. He did not disappoint. He looked like a scholar and he was a complete gentleman.

If I asked him about a song, I always learned more than "I" needed. And he did this "off the top" without referring to any literature.

I remember how disappointed I was when I read his "last post." I sent him a PM to tell him I understood his feelings, but I wished he would change is mind. I also told him I would miss him.

It gladdened me to later read anonymous posts that could only have been Bruce. Later he used his Mudcat name.

I know the angels have a whole lot more songs to sing with Bruce up in heaven.

Roger in Baltimore

Subject: RE: Bruce Olson. RIP
From: Bill D
Date: 10 Nov 03 - 01:06 PM

For a totally overwhelming and impressive list, written by Bruce, of his publications in spectroscopy and in folk music research, you might want to look at this site. It's worth seeing, I think.

Rita Ferrara using Bill's ID...

Subject: RE: Bruce Olson. RIP
From: sian, west wales
Date: 10 Nov 03 - 01:13 PM

This is very sad news. I always respected his knowledge.

sian

Subject: RE: Bruce Olson. RIP
From: Fortunato
Date: 10 Nov 03 - 03:20 PM

Nice quiet fellow. Unassuming. I knew him somewhat less well and a couple years less than BillD. His genre was not mine; we exchanged greetings and little more. I occasionally helped him set up or put away chairs at the FSGW events at the Washington Ethical Society Hall. He was all right.

Chance

Subject: RE: Bruce Olson. RIP
From: Ferrara
Date: 10 Nov 03 - 04:21 PM

The memorial service for Bruce was wonderful. It wasn't a church service but a sharing of memories, starting with each of his three sons, and followed by a man he worked with and several members of FSGW. (And then followed by great banjo music, and lots of excellent food....)

His sons wryly acknowledged what a number of us have learned: When Bruce wanted to tell you something, he wanted to tell you EVERYTHING about it. This had its ups and downs! A telling anecdote: Son Ken said that at a time when he was "having trouble with learning the times tables," Bruce drew a diagram at the dinner table of a piece of new spectroscopic equipment he was designing, and it never occurred to him that at that age his son couldn't understand the design or the explanation he was giving.

Bruce was raised in the depression and was frugal, with no interest in luxuries. A description of his one-bedroom apartment (I think by Stephen Wade) gave a picture of a "bedroom" where one half of the room was taken up with books and papers; and a "living room" in which one half of the room was taken up with incomprehensible electronic equipment. I know it was Stephen Wade who said that, if you went to Bruce's apartment, you were grateful that earthquakes are almost unknown in the Washington area, because of the papers, books and miscellany stacked in tall towers all around you. :-)

Stephen played quiet banjo music before and after the remembrances. He described working with Bruce on the complex origins of an American version of "Fennario," and played and sang the song for us.

FSGW's Carly Gewirz spoke of many memories of Bruce. The first was meeting him at an Open Sing years & years ago while she in college. She sang "Mary Hamilton," but she knew nothing of its history at the time. Bruce came over and started telling her where it came from and the events that inspired it, other versions, etc. As a ballad lover, she was enthralled. She didn't give Bruce her name, but somehow he located both her name and her address, and a few days later a large packet of additional information arrived in her mailbox. She says Bruce was a major influence on her decision to go to graduate school in folklore. They remained friends over many years.

Bill said much of what he has written here, with some additions.

A fellow scientist from the National Bureau of Standards talked about Bruce's contributions to spectroscopy. He said they are doing work now that features equipment Bruce designed at least ten years ago. A visiting Russian scientist, very good in the field, said this equipment was "practically perfect for its purpose." Bruce didn't publish all of his work at the National Bureau of Standards, and his former colleagues would like to see much more of it collated and published.

We met a lovely lady from the Scots music newslist who had been corresponding with Bruce for two years -- she said she had an inch-thick file of his e-mails -- and never knew they both lived in Silver Spring! She had tears in her eyes. She said she felt she was representing all the people who knew Bruce as a friend, but never met him.

I spoke up too, and said that for all the teasing about his curmudgeonly traits, there was a sweetness about Bruce. When he used to host FSGW open sings at the Ethical Society, he created a lovely atmosphere. He left the overhead lights off, placed folded tables flat on the floor in a circle, with pillows to sit on, and candles on the tables. Today when I think of Bruce, for some reason I remember most of all those candles and that cosy, inviting space.

Rita Ferrara

Subject: RE: Bruce Olson. RIP
From: Bob Hitchcock
Date: 10 Nov 03 - 04:36 PM

This is truly sad news indeed. I first met Bruce in the late 70's when I moved to the D.C. area, he came up to me after I had sung a song (can't remember which one) and we ended up in a discussion about it's origin and variations etc. which lasted a good 2 hours. I have piles of papers in my files which Bruce was kind enough to send me over the years, which will serve as a reminder to his kindness as well as his scholarship.

I saw little of him over the past few years, but I will always be thankful that I knew him.

Bob

Subject: RE: Bruce Olson. RIP
From: Peter T.
Date: 10 Nov 03 - 05:16 PM

Bruce and I tangled from time to time, but with I hope mutual respect and love for the music. He was a treasure, and a treasure trove, and I will miss him and the encyclopaedic mind.

yours,

Peter T.

Subject: RE: Bruce Olson. RIP
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 10 Nov 03 - 07:10 PM

I am sorry to read this.

And more sorry to be untimely in saying so.

Subject: RE: Bruce Olson. RIP
From: KathWestra
Date: 11 Nov 03 - 11:50 AM

Thanks, Rita, for sharing the memorial service with those of us who couldn't be there. You captured it evocatively, and the stories you told reminded me of other "Bruce" moments. He really wanted everyone to care as much (and know as much) about each and every song as he did, and even his most reluctant students ended up knowing things because of Bruce that we wouldn't know otherwise. Kathy

Subject: RE: Bruce Olson. RIP
From: Bill D
Date: 11 Nov 03 - 12:07 PM

BTW--Ed Cray, editor of "The Erotic Muse" was in frequent contact with Bruce, and will be working with the family to help archive and preserve the data on the web site. Other efforts are under discussion also, as the information is public domain, and Bruce would want it widely available....

Subject: RE: Bruce Olson. RIP
From: John in Brisbane
Date: 11 Nov 03 - 10:17 PM

I remain in awe of the man and his work. May he rest as he wished.

Regards, John

Subject: RE: Bruce Olson. RIP
From: GUEST,Just someone
Date: 12 Nov 03 - 02:59 AM

Sad at his passing.

Happy for his life, thankful for his contributions.


I just saw his website:    http://users.erols.com/olsonw/

and noticed he had died. I'd be more happy if people read my words\work after my passing.

If you're curious, check it out. He lived to 74 and loved folksong, God bless him for that.

-- hope I can do the same.

Subject: RE: Bruce Olson. RIP
From: PaulineL
Date: 18 Nov 03 - 01:13 AM

Rita, thanks so much for your posting about the memorial service for Bruce. I especially liked your own recollection. It showed me a warm and fuzzy aspect of Bruce's personality that I had not known.

Pauline