The thing I have always appreciated the most is that, unlike others(myself included, on occasion, I am afraid) you *have* just stuck to the facts that are warranted. With you gone, it will be a bit like having a model kit without the assembly diagrams. I hope that in time, you'll feel better about the place-

You have done a great service here, and I, for one, want to thank you for all of the time that you have put in sharing both your knowledge and your resources. You have set a standard for documentation that can't be overstated--A great many people have no idea that much of what we consider "oral/aural" tradition really can be traced back to definite sources--and your work has burst a lot of spurious claims and off-handed generalizations. Most important, it has opened the door on a great trove of text and music that most of us knew little or nothing about.

I must confess that I have spent many happy hours scrolling through your text files, reading, pondering, and singing old songs. Your work with ABC files has been especially helpful, as have your comments on the technical handling of them. I spend a lot of time matching melodies to text!

Of course, I have often looked up the songs you mention in discussions, and very often, I have learned to sing and play it, as well (I have some nice chord/melody arrangements that I have worked out--songs I had never hear performed or on record, but that I knew from your postings and your files--

So thank you, Bruce! I know that I am speaking for a lot of others as well, when I say that your contributions here have really added a lot to my enjoyment and appreciation of music.