I remember Mike from the old days at the Ash Grove. Ed Pearl became the unofficial fourth member of the NLCR even to the point where he was sporting a vest like they wore.

Mike was undoubtably one of the most important people in folk music.
He blazed his own trail different from his half brother Pete by going into depth in Appalachian traditional music. He has left a wonderful legacy for people to study. It would be interesting to hear Tom Paley's account of his association with Mike as well as Tracy Schwartz and John Cohen (if he is still with us).

Mike and I had a distant association. I always admired his performances as so did many. I was taken with his autoharp and singing of "When First Unto This Country, A Stranger I Came".

I hope Mike is comfortable as he can be in this trying time and he
is assured that many appreciate his vast accomplishments.

Frank Hamilton