Thanks, Julia, for posting this. I've been in bereavement overload all day (actually since a couple days ago when I first heard that the bug that he couldn't shake at the end of September at the Portsmouth Maritime Folk Festival had turned into something far more serious) and just...couldn't.

I will miss Bob an incredible amount. I so enjoyed being around him. He was so generous with his depth of knowledge and his musicianry was without equal. I learned something new every time I saw him. Tom and I first met him at Songs of Sail in Kennebunk in 2001. Bob performed at every PMFF except the first.

Alas, Tom and Bob didn't get to see each other at the festival this year. Bob had been at the Ri-Ra sing while Tom oversaw the Press Room open sing. Tom had started his decline and had me take him back to the motel, so he didn't go to the concert. And then the next morning had me take him home. I came back to the performers' meeting and got to talk to Bob and his daughter and Dave Peloquin. And since my afternoon PMFF duties had been absorbed by others, I got to hear Bob's addition to Jeff Warner's pre-performance request of "Rolling Down to Old Maui" -- Bob had found, at the American Museum in England, the original hymn tune that the tune to "Rolling Down to Old Maui" was based on. Then I went over to the Athenaeum and caught Bob and Dave's cameo concert -- now there's a case where 1 + 1 = 3. Fine performers individually, they were just so much fun to see perform together.

Jeannie Robertson said, "Sing it right, sing it proper, sing it real," and Bob has always not only "sung it real" but generously conveyed his knowledge and research to his audience and to his fellow folk performers, confident in his ability, but without arrogance. It's been such a pleasure to respect such a congenial friend and musician.

I'm feeling this loss hard...as I'm sure will the American folk community.

Linn