It took me three hours to read all these postings last night.

Everytime I went to post, someone wrote something so incredible that I said "well, THAT caps it doesn't it."
Then more people who knew Barry showed up.
And more.

I wanted to write something. I wanted to offer condolances.
Especially to the family left behind.
Spouse, children, even singing partner Neil.

A lot of it has been said.
Some of the most amazing bits were not repeated. So look for them.

I noticed something, and it got me thinking.
I knew Barry from Mystic and Chantey sings on the East Coast. He lived there exclusively in my mind. But some of the most incredible entries I noticed were from friends of mine that I almost never see at Mystic, who In my mind exist almost exclusively with me in SF.

It reminds me of how much I never knew about him, and how much I wanted to know him better. How much I could've learned from him.

It got me to reflect on that limited relationship.

I remember how much his "unorthodox" style of singing threw me. How stragely brash for one so sweet he seemed. How opinionated he sounded when schooling someone on a songs origin (It put me off at first). And how hartfelt, and sincere would be his retraction if he found he mispoke. (It won me back).

I think we've all said something (at one time or another) parroting a pet theory about a song or our own personal musings as fact. Some are tentative, and offer caveat while doing it, some sin boldly and never look back (a lot), and only a very few would go out of their way to attempt to retract an incorrect utterence for the sake of artistic integrity. No one louder than Barry.

What a gift to have given his children . What a legacy for all of us to aspire to share in.

What a force in this forum.
What a unique voice.
Silenced.