When I read this thread and learned about Alan Lomax's death, I reached out and looked up to see what that other great folklorist contemporary and friend of Alan's, Hamish Henderson who died a few months ago, might have to give us. I found this in an article about another great man, Calum MacLean, with whom Alan worked and whom he greatly admired.

And here is Alan writing about Calum when he died, in words that are very applicable now:

I grieved on that day...when I heard he had gone away over the hill, but rejoice to know that he left behind so many good friends and so much fine work."

And here is something from the same article, part of a translation from the Gaelic of a poem Calum's brother Sorley wrote about Calum years after his death; and this also rings a bell now:

The world is still beautiful
though you are not in it...
There is many a poor man...
whose spirit and name you raised;
you lifted the humble
whom our age put aside.
They gave you more
than they would give to others
since you gave them the zeal
that was a fire beneath your kindness.

They sensed the vehemence
that was gentle in your ways,
they understood the heavy depths of your humanity
when your fun was at its lightest...
You took the retreat
to the western edge,
you did not take the breaking,
who never were broken,
who reached the mouth of the grave
with your spirit always the victor."

The Mudcat is a good place to learn of a death like this, where there are others who understand why it matters. It's a kind of wake.