Yes, it's sad to hear of the passing of John Ashford. I'll hold off until we have an offical obituary, but here is something to tell about John.

Bob(deckman)Nelson wrote an article about John Ashford in the NW HOOT in the series "Those Who Led The Way" here.

John was an early member of the Pacific Northwest Folklore Society in 1953. His father, Paul Ashford, was a folklorist and song collector in the Pacific Northwest. While John was still a youngster his father used to bring his friends home for Sunday dinners and to gather around the family piano. It was here that John first met the likes of Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, and Ivar Haglund.

John and Sally (a.k.a. Pushkara) Ashford formed a singing club called "The Seattle Folksinging Society" in the mid 1950s. In the 1972 John was president of the Seattle Folklore Society when the Northwest Folklife Festival was initiated. After that John and Sally Ashford were prime instigators in forming the Seattle Song Circle.

John was a good friend and a true gentleman in the real sense of that term. I will miss him greatly.

S. in Seattle