I just realized in reading this thread, that although I'm very familiar with the name Alan Lomax and have songs collected by him, I have no idea what his reality was. Has anyone read an "accurate" biography about his life...was he purposefully "ripping off" these songs or was he collecting on a shoestring with no idea of its subsequent success....did he get rich in his lifetime from his collections? I somehow had the impression that he struggled himself for survival....but really have no basis for the thought.