Hi, Mudcat, SFS and Pacific NW Folklore Society and Pacific NW Folklife friends:

Thank you Bob Nelson and all who have commented here regarding John Ashford's recent solstice passing.

We wanted to wait until a time and place for John's memorial was set before publishing his obituary in the newspaper and posting a brief tribute to the People's Memorial Association website. We're negotiating for a date in January with South Seattle Community College where John was hired to head the library when the school was opened in 1970. He taught a number of courses there, including several about folk music traditions.

In the meantime, I've posted a photo taken by our daughter, Wendy, on my Facebook page, along with the following:

Our beloved John Ashford orchestrated a peaceful 3:18 a.m. Winter Solstice passing, accompanied by two of his children, the "midwives of passage," Frank and Wendy. He was 82 years young. John's family has grown and metamorphosed over the 60 years since he and I met and married in 1958. We were together for 26 of those years, grew each other up while raising our three children, David, Frank and Wendy...the "glue" being our love for each of them and the folk music we made together. [More of John's and our history to come, but you can read and hear a range of FAQs and myth at the Pacific NW Folklore Society website: http://pnwfolklore.org/SeattleFolksingers-ThoseWhoLedTheWay-Ashfords.html]

The profound spiritual awakening, the descent of Grace, or shaktipat from our meditation master, Baba Muktananda, deepened our connection, yet ultimately ended our marriage, as each of us set out on our unique soul's quest for love and wisdom beyond the confines of convention. John remarried. He and Gen served together in the Peace Corps. Their years in Botswana among the Kalahari Bushmen are the basis of his two books, "Meeting the Mantis," and the most recent, "Dusty Land," published just last week. Gathered around John's hospice bed were John's children, his niece and three teenage children, Gen's son and daughter, their mates and grandchildren whose lives have all been enriched by John's gentle care and mentoring. With Gen's daughter's remarriage, three amazing brothers have extended our blended family, now numbering around 30, before beginning to count uncles, aunts, cousins, etc.) We are grieving and so grateful for his love and easeful passing.

And so it is.
Blessings with bundles of gratitude and love for each of you who have been a part of our lives. We have not forgotten.
Pushkara aka Sally