I knew Sandy has not been well these last few years, and especially not in the last year. But somehow, still, this seems so sudden. And after all that the Paton family has been through, this loss seems like just too much.

Sandy did more than any other person to create the music that I have known and loved my entire life. I grew up, like others in my generation and after, on Folk Legacy records. Today, a significant portion of the albums in my LP collection are the familiar black sleeves with the photographs on front. Sandy gave us the music of Gordon Bok and Rosalie Sorrels and Bill Staines and Jonathan Eberhart and Helen Schneyer and Joe Hickerson and Cindy Kallet and Kendall Morse and Frank Proffitt and Hobart Smith and Archie Fisher and Ed Trickett and so many others. This is a monumental loss to the folk music community and to music at large.

As I child I used to be intimidated by Sandy, because I knew who he was and because he was big and had a booming voice - and as an adult I learned that he was one of the sweetest, kindest, most sensitive people you could ever meet. Just yesterday my two year old and I were singing one of his kids' songs.

I had always hoped to see Sandy and Caroline named National Heritage Fellows - they deserved it as much as any. I'm only sorry it never happened.

I am more sad than words can say.

Dan