BS: Past Members

Subject: BS: Past Members
From: jacqui.c
Date: 01 Apr 07 - 01:11 PM

This was Jim Lad's idea and I thought that I would start it off talking about Dave Bryant.

Dave was a real 'folkie'. Beard and hair and a pewter tankard. A big, booming voice, both singing and talking. Get him started talking and you were there for as long as it took to make up a good excuse to get away. He and his partner Linda (Essex Girl) would perform together and it was clear, from the way he looked at her, how much he loved her.

He called me the 'War Bride' and accused Kendall of stealing one of the flowers of English womanhood. He also gave me the Avril Betts Award badge because I tend to have words handy when singing.

Dave had a lot of bad luck the last couple of years of his life. First, he had a stroke and lost the use of an arm. He then managed to break his humerus!

He was getting over that and then was diagnosed with cancer of the spine - no cure and a three month prognosis until it would kill him. I went to visit him in hospital and was knocked back by the way that he was coping with his impending death. He was very calm and had spent time tying up all the loose ends that he could to ensure that those he left behind would be looked after. I spent a couple of hours with him (still couldn't get a word in edgeways AND got a lecture on learning songs before singing them in public) and came away with a great deal of respect for a very brave man.

OK, anyone else want to tell us about other 'Catters who are no longer with us?

Subject: RE: BS: Past Members
From: Ebbie
Date: 01 Apr 07 - 05:20 PM

I'd like to hear more about Little John Cameron. Among others.

Subject: RE: BS: Past Members
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 01 Apr 07 - 06:28 PM

Dave was great. Like all of us he was not perfect, but unlike many of us he enjoyed his imperfections.   Also, as he said to me not long before the end "For some time my cup has only been half-full".   Since his usual cup was a two-pint tankard I though how much this paled the rest of us.

Subject: RE: BS: Past Members
From: alanabit
Date: 02 Apr 07 - 04:33 PM

Two members, whom I liked, but only knew from here and PM contact, were okthen and Walking Eagle. They both came over as kind and dignified people, who did not need to shout or draw attention to themselves. There are still plenty of good folks like them here, but I miss them all the same.

Subject: RE: BS: Past Members
From: Amos
Date: 02 Apr 07 - 04:34 PM

So much has been said about Rick Fielding I will not try to recapture it all here. But I still think of him every week.


A

Subject: RE: BS: Past Members
From: katlaughing
Date: 02 Apr 07 - 05:12 PM

Giac, Mary Giacomini, was another one of those quiet and dignified members, though she wasn't above making us all laugh. She was a wonderful person and I love hearing sing her song on the Mudcat CDs.

Subject: RE: BS: Past Members
From: CarolC
Date: 02 Apr 07 - 06:24 PM

LR Mole (L R Mole) was a sweet, gentle, poetic man, with never a bad word about anyone. He was a wonderful writer with a wicked sense of humor. And he was from my home state of Rhode Island, so he understood.

All the same things can be said about Little John Cameron (except being from Rhode Island: LJC was from Scotland). Plus he had the good sense to chose Newfoundland as his adopted home.

Subject: RE: BS: Past Members
From: kendall
Date: 02 Apr 07 - 09:38 PM

Jets aka Joe Terreault. He played a wicked accordion and specialized in Finnish folk tunes. He introduced me to the Mudcat. One of the good guys he was.

Subject: RE: BS: Past Members
From: Sorcha
Date: 02 Apr 07 - 09:51 PM

So many, so many. We are all getting older and time marches on.

Subject: RE: BS: Past Members
From: open mike
Date: 03 Apr 07 - 01:01 AM

this assumes past as in "Passed"

and the former members mentioned
are no longer living...except they
do live on in the threads they
posted here!

Subject: RE: BS: Past Members
From: Morticia
Date: 03 Apr 07 - 03:51 AM

Mary Giacomini was a special friend of mine, saw me through some hard times, I miss her still and think I always will.

Subject: RE: BS: Past Members
From: RolyH
Date: 03 Apr 07 - 06:00 AM

I got to know Bill Stephens (okthen) through this forum and in the few years I knew him we became good friends.He was very genourous, some of my most treasured possions are the DVD's and CD's he burnt for me before I had the technology and I know he did a few for people on here. His knowledge about the folk scene was pretty exstensive and he told many stories about his time at Colchester folk club in the 70's.He was also a talented founder with many of his bronzes still on display.
The last time I saw Bill he was more worried about giving me his tickets to a concert that he knew he wasn't going to make than about his own health. He was a genuine good guy,a great family man and a sad loss here.He loved this place and was always talking about who he had been in touch with. It dosn't seem possible that he's been gone over two years.

Subject: RE: BS: Past Members
From: wysiwyg
Date: 03 Apr 07 - 09:48 AM

My word for Giac (pronounced Jack) is "evocative." She could call forth a depth of feeling like no one else I have ever known, without appearing even to try.

How many of us knew that Giac was quite the heartbreaker in her day? She once sent me a xerox of a grainy black and white photo of herself when a young adult..... a stunning beauty she was, with wise and just-wicked-enough eyes.

She was a wonderful writer.... sent me essays of everyday life that spoke volumes about her vision for life and her skill with words-- I knew she had been a print journalist, but it was like that photo of young Mary-- her gift making a stunning glimpse of the power she had wielded by her thoughts and words, and her ability to SEE.

Another time she sent me a cheering email when I was having a hard time. She had Photoshopped her grinning face into a Mighty-Mouse-in-flight cartoon, and titled the email "Here I Come to Save the Day." And she DID save the day; she still does every time that picture comes up on my screensaver program and my mind chimes in with the perky Mighty Mouse theme song with a slight southern drawl!

She had as much an eye for photography as she had ear for words. In her later years she delighted in complex and beautiful worlds captured in gorgeously-composed and colored candid shots: miniatures. Nature still-life photographs. She was not able to walk far from her door-- but found plenty right there at her doorstep to look deeply into.

Mary, our Giac, loved. "Ah love you, Susan," she would be sure to say at the end of every conversation. Not a quick commonplace-- a slow and intentional delivery of an important message. "Tell Greg Ah love him, too."

She had an openness and a humility at the same time. And that kind of first-class friendship and love were reflected in the response people had to her, such as the day one friend surprised Mary with a sunny day's horseback riding. That friend knew Mary would not be with her for long; according to her doctors, there was no way Mary should have been out of bed at all, much less astride a horse. But-- that friend also knew she had brought Giac more joy, with the horses, than anything else in the world could have brought, and so TOOK her out anyway. Oh, what that meant to Giac! Of course she also made sure a camera caught it ALL. I bet that photo was at her bedside to the end.

There's another photo from a bit earlier that year, that Giac took of the friend who drove her to chemo-- I mean, a picture of the friend actually driving the car. And laughing? The picture is slightly askew, I am sure because Giac was laughing too as she took the picture.

One of Giac great loves was her little bitty dog. She dressed Emmy up in all manner of costumes. In the pix you can tell Emmy is having as much fun as her mistress-- partners in crime.

I think of them often, and of Emmy, happy in the new home Giac picked out for her when she could no longer care for her, and missing her Giac-mommie. ME TOO, Emmy, me too.

~Susan

Subject: RE: BS: Past Members
From: katlaughing
Date: 03 Apr 07 - 09:57 AM

She also took her Green Light Luck Duck to a lot of places and sent me photos of "her" including one she said I couldn't publish because the doctor didn't give permission...she'd actually talked her doc into letting her take a picture of HIM listening to the Green Light Luck Duck's "heartbeat!" It was precious!

Subject: RE: BS: Past Members
From: catspaw49
Date: 03 Apr 07 - 10:32 AM

Mole was one of those people with the ability to say volumes and sum up a mishmash of great thoughts with a few sentences. In several threads he was able to draw a rambling discussion to a focal point. Kind and caring.

Kind and caring can be said of so many "passed" 'Catters. You could find their pictures in a dictionary where the words are defined. Sorry....I know that's a cliche and all but........

Giac was all of that and more. If your life was going very well or very badly she sent you PM's that were spot on and never failed to make you feel good or even better than you already did. Gawd, what a lady................

And then there was Walking Eagle. She and I shared some history as she had lived in Columbus for a time. We'd have a tale or two every year when my son's trek to the Special Olympics would take us past her home that she had here. Above all, she had "grace."   I suppose that too is another quality I valued in all of these folks but the Eagle had it in spades.

Little John........LOL......Just makes me laugh at times to think of him. The flip side of his humor was the intelligence and depth of his thought. Here was one of my favorite types, the genius who played the buffoon. We shared a mutual interest inwriting and he had an idea for a new website but we never got it off the ground before he died. His interests were broad and divergent and not linear.....another quality which endeared him to me. Just before he died he wrote me about a motorcycle he was about to buy to restore, one of many interests we shared. He and I along with Brother Mole were all members of The Aneurysm Club and LJC and I had a running series of jokes about it. I guess I'm the only member left now but if you have an aneurysm you're living with, call me and join up......dues are cheap!

I've said too much about Rick in the past and it's easy to find on these threads.........

If you missed knowing them, all of their posts are still here and you might want to sample a few.


Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Past Members
From: Bill D
Date: 03 Apr 07 - 11:38 AM

...and there was Shula. She may or may not still be here. When last heard from, she was very ill with heart problems, and not able to get out of bed much. I have a feeling that she'd say hello if she could.

Shula was one of those people who could turn digital letters on a page into a persona. She had a way of insisting that you listen, participate and care...and making you glad you did.

heck...read for yourself!

and the whole list

last post was about 3 years ago....

Subject: RE: BS: Past Members
From: Joe Offer
Date: 03 Apr 07 - 02:05 PM

John in Brisbane was going blind, but that didn't stop him. He compiled a Scottish glossary, converted the Digital Tradition tunes to ABC, and worked tirelessly on countless other projects.

I always meant to take him up on his invitation to visit him in Brisbane, although I sometimes wondered about the motivation of his invitations. He knew I hate snakes, but he kept sending me pictures of snakes, and he frequently reminded me about his eight-foot "house boa," that kept all the bad snakes away.

In the end, he had begun to recover from his vision problems, and his death was totally unrelated to his vision.

-Joe-

Subject: RE: BS: Past Members
From: Big Mick
Date: 03 Apr 07 - 02:10 PM

So many good folks. Aside from the obvious (Rick), I think for me it would be Shula and LJC. But that is not to take away from so many others.

Ah the storied past, how I miss it.

Mick

Subject: RE: BS: Past Members
From: katlaughing
Date: 03 Apr 07 - 04:58 PM

Scroll down to the middle picture for my favourite one of Mary/Giac.

Subject: RE: BS: Past Members
From: alanabit
Date: 03 Apr 07 - 06:06 PM

I hope she is well wherever she is, for I have missed Robin 2 for the past few years since she stopped posting. She is one of several Mudcatters, who contributed a lot here, but has not been around for a while.

Subject: RE: BS: Past Members
From: GUEST,Mary in Kentucky
Date: 03 Apr 07 - 06:10 PM

Hello alanabit, I'll have to renew my cookie to send you a pm. I just happened to see your post. I'll share some news with you about Robin. I miss her too, but I'll probably see her this summer.

Subject: RE: BS: Past Members
From: catspaw49
Date: 04 Apr 07 - 01:11 AM

Good Lord...........AND just WHERE have you been Mary????

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Past Members
From: Big Mick
Date: 04 Apr 07 - 07:35 AM

You beat me to it, Spaw!!

Mary, it is great to see you in these parts, once again. I hope it isn't a temporary stop. Stay in touch.

All the best,

Mick

Subject: RE: BS: Past Members
From: Roger the Skiffler
Date: 04 Apr 07 - 09:27 AM

JulieB. She sat between Steve Parkes and me at the only Mudgather I've been to (Stoney Stratford). Truly a young rose between two ageing thorns! Played fiddle and mandolin and was a popular singer-songwriter. Her sudden death was a shock to all.

RtS

Subject: RE: BS: Past Members
From: GUEST
Date: 04 Apr 07 - 10:04 AM

Is there any we don't miss ?

Subject: RE: BS: Past Members
From: Big Mick
Date: 04 Apr 07 - 10:13 AM

Excellent point, GUEST.....well taken.

Mick

Subject: RE: BS: Past Members
From: catspaw49
Date: 05 Apr 07 - 07:29 PM

Geeziz do I ever feel remiss here..........I dunno' how I could ever forget another pal from the "Aneurysm Club" and a great contributor to the 'Cat. Murray Adelman in OZ who posted as [e-mail]............Great posts, always informative and a funny Cat as well. I still miss Murray and his knowledge and humor. If you want an idea of what we thought of him, try his OBIT thread and the links it takes you to.

Murray.......the idea man behind the Amish Australian Pitchfork Moustache Tuner (read the obit to find out about that if you don't know) and a good friend.

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Past Members
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 05 Apr 07 - 08:57 PM

Don't forget Bruce Olson. I can't. A wise, cantankerous, helping, pedantic,sharing scholar and friend.

Subject: RE: BS: Past Members
From: GUEST,Dani
Date: 06 Apr 07 - 05:46 PM

I do miss Shula, and wish I knew what happened to her. Anyone?!

She was a bright spirit here.

Dani

Subject: RE: BS: Past Members
From: Jean(eanjay)
Date: 09 Apr 07 - 09:57 AM

I've just contributed to a thread started by LANCASHIRE LAD in 2004. He hasn't posted since last October - I don't know who he is but am just curious to know what has happened to him.

Subject: RE: BS: Past Members
From: Sorcha
Date: 09 Apr 07 - 10:15 PM

Are you speaking of yourself on all counts, dear Greg?

Subject: RE: BS: Past Members
From: alanabit
Date: 10 Apr 07 - 04:22 AM

Lancashire Lad helped to set up the download site, Woven Wheat Whispers. He was very busy with that for a while and he also had other issues to sort out. I think his life is on a bit of an upturn again, so we can hope to see him back. He has certainly done a lot of good work on behalf of musicians. The Woven Wheat Whispers site is still up and there is a supplementary message board at Harvest Home.

Subject: RE: BS: Past Members
From: alanabit
Date: 10 Apr 07 - 04:24 AM

Harvest Home.

Subject: RE: BS: Past Members
From: Jean(eanjay)
Date: 10 Apr 07 - 04:53 AM

Alanabit, thanks for that. He also started a post in 2003 asking about a Leeds folk singer Janet Jones. I live in Yorkshire and I am still in contact with Janet and she is singing with her partner so if we do see him back and he hasn't managed to contact her I will be able to help. Many thanks.