Obit: RIP George Pickow (10 Dec 2010, age 88)

Subject: Sad News - RIP George Pickow
From: Rabbi-Sol
Date: 15 Dec 10 - 06:10 PM

It was just reported on Facebook that George Pickow, husband of Jean Ritchie and father of Jon & Peter Pickow passed away at midnight on December 8th. My condolences go out to the entire Pickow-Ritchie family. I met George on numerous ocassions and he was a very warm and loving human being. I believe that he was 91 years old. I last saw him on August 29th at he Borderline picnic that we held in honor of Jean Ritchie. He was in a wheelchair at the time and very frail but his spirit was as ebullient as ever. I will truly miss this man.

Subject: RE: Sad News - RIP George Pickow
From: Herga Kitty
Date: 15 Dec 10 - 06:12 PM

Very sorry to hear this - all condolences to the family, who've made such a tremendous contribution to folk music for all of us.

Kitty

Subject: RE: Sad News - RIP George Pickow
From: Joe Offer
Date: 15 Dec 10 - 06:15 PM

Oh, Jean, I am so sorry.

-Joe-

Subject: RE: Sad News - RIP George Pickow (8 Dec 2010, age 91)
From: maeve
Date: 15 Dec 10 - 06:18 PM

This is a huge loss. Jean and family, you are in my thoughts and prayers.

Maeve

Subject: RE: Sad News - RIP George Pickow (8 Dec 2010, age 91)
From: Dan Schatz
Date: 15 Dec 10 - 06:29 PM

George was an extremely kind person and generous with himself and his talents. I'm so sorry to hear of this, and my thoughts are with the entire Pickow/Ritchie family.

Dan

Subject: RE: Sad News - RIP George Pickow (8 Dec 2010, age 91)
From: Mary Katherine
Date: 15 Dec 10 - 06:50 PM

Sincere condolences to the entire family.

Mary Katherine

Subject: RE: Sad News - RIP George Pickow (8 Dec 2010, age 91)
From: Jeri
Date: 15 Dec 10 - 07:00 PM

My condolences. Your family has given us so much, and many of us will hold you all in our hearts.

Subject: RE: Sad News - RIP George Pickow (8 Dec 2010, age 91)
From: IvanB
Date: 15 Dec 10 - 07:46 PM

Very sad to hear this. My thoughts are with Jean and the family.

Subject: RE: Sad News - RIP George Pickow (8 Dec 2010, age
From: GUEST,Susan Brumfield
Date: 15 Dec 10 - 07:55 PM

Oh, dear Jean, I am so sorry to hear this news. Your wonderful George was such a delightful man, and knowing him was a real joy. I've never seen two people as much in love. I'm thinking of you. Love, Susan

Subject: RE: Sad News - RIP George Pickow (8 Dec 2010, age
From: Ross Campbell
Date: 15 Dec 10 - 08:42 PM

So sorry to hear this. Love to Jean and the family.
Ross

Subject: RE: Sad News - RIP George Pickow (8 Dec 2010, age 91)
From: katlaughing
Date: 15 Dec 10 - 09:18 PM

Oh, Jean..so very sad to read this. Much love and condolences to you and your family. We owe you all so much.

Kat & Roger

Subject: RE: Sad News - RIP George Pickow (8 Dec 2010, age 91)
From: Suffet
Date: 15 Dec 10 - 10:37 PM

Oh my goodness. December 8 was Jean's 88th birthday. This is quite a tragedy. Rest in peace.

--- Steve

Subject: RE: Sad News - RIP George Pickow (8 Dec 2010, age 91)
From: Art Thieme
Date: 15 Dec 10 - 10:38 PM

Jean, how sad. I have nothing but great and good memories of the times spent talking with you and George at various venues. Carol and I are thinking of you and George tonight We do hope your own health has improved some in recent times.

Jean, all our love goes out to you!

Art and Carol Thieme

Subject: RE: Sad News - RIP George Pickow (8 Dec 2010, age 91)
From: GUEST,Babypix (Deborah Robins & Larry Hanks)
Date: 15 Dec 10 - 10:42 PM

Dear Jean and Jon,

So terribly sorry to hear about George. Seems like only yesterday (actually, just last winter) that we were sitting in your living room having lots of laughs and great music. George has left us all with a great deal to remember him by.

Warmest and fondest regards
and heartfelt condolences from your friends,

Deborah & Larry Hanks

Subject: RE: Sad News - RIP George Pickow (8 Dec 2010, age 91)
From: GUEST,Kiyohide Kunizaki
Date: 15 Dec 10 - 11:47 PM

from Japan. Very sad to hear this.
I love his pictures and films.

kiyohide

Subject: RE: Sad News - RIP George Pickow (8 Dec 2010, age 91)
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 15 Dec 10 - 11:53 PM

my condolences to Jean, her sons, family & friends

sandra

Subject: RE: Sad News - RIP George Pickow (8 Dec 2010, age 91)
From: Nancy King
Date: 15 Dec 10 - 11:56 PM

Very sad news indeed. Please know that I join people all over the country and the world in keeping this marvelous family in my thoughts.

Nancy

Subject: RE: Sad News - RIP George Pickow (8 Dec 2010, age 91)
From: open mike
Date: 16 Dec 10 - 01:13 AM

So sorry to hear this....blessings to Jean and the family.

Subject: RE: Sad News - RIP George Pickow (8 Dec 2010, age 91)
From: Little Robyn
Date: 16 Dec 10 - 02:15 AM

I'm very sorry to hear this.
Lots of love to Jean and family.
Robyn

Subject: RE: Sad News - RIP George Pickow (8 Dec 2010, age 91)
From: GUEST,Derek Schofield
Date: 16 Dec 10 - 07:59 AM

Very sad news. I met George, with Jean, in England twenty odd years ago, and they were charming and friendly.
My condolences to Jean and her sons.
Derek

Subject: RE: Sad News - RIP George Pickow (8 Dec 2010, age 91)
From: Suffet
Date: 16 Dec 10 - 07:59 AM

Just one small note: George was born February 11, 1922, which means he was 88 years old. Also, I just alerted the New York Times, which has not yet published an obituary that I have seen.

Meanwhile, Marilyn and I send our best wishes to Jean, Jon, and Peter. Our thoughts are with you.

--- Steve

Subject: RE: Sad News - RIP George Pickow (8 Dec 2010, age 91)
From: AllisonA(Animaterra)
Date: 16 Dec 10 - 08:03 AM

Love to Jean and the family. Sad loss at any time of year, but more so now.

Subject: RE: Sad News - RIP George Pickow (8 Dec 2010, age 91)
From: Sarah McQuaid
Date: 16 Dec 10 - 08:34 AM

I'm so very sorry to hear this sad news. My heart goes out to Jean and her family.

Subject: RE: Sad News - RIP George Pickow (8 Dec 2010, age 91)
From: Michael S
Date: 16 Dec 10 - 12:24 PM

Sad news. I add my condolences.

I want to note that George Pickow was an accomplished photographer and cinematographer. He shot much of the footage of the Newport Folk Festival (circa mid-1960s) that ended up in the acclaimed Newport documentary, Festival. Somewhere in the recesses of my mind I recall hearing about a tussle between George and Murray Lerner regarding ownership rights. Lerner is credited as director. My DVD copy of the film credits a George Pico as associate producer. I don't know if that's a mistake or a deliberate pseudonym, but it's Mr. Pickow.

If anyone can clarify/add to my understanding of George's role in this film, I'd appreciate it.

His sounds like a life well-lived.

Michael Scully
Austin, TX

Subject: RE: Sad News - RIP George Pickow (8 Dec 2010, age 91)
From: katlaughing
Date: 16 Dec 10 - 12:43 PM

Still no published obit that I could find, but I did think this was something folks might like to read, even though it came out in 1999. From HERE:

Stepping Out From Behind the Camera
Published: April 25, 1999
By BARBARA DELATINER

PORT WASHINGTON— IN more than five decades as a photographer and documentary film maker, George Pickow has done it all: covers and photo essays for magazines like Life and National Geographic; album covers for recordings by Theodore Bikel, Clark Terry, Nina Simone and Lawrence Welk; portraits of legendary artists; nature photography like the images of the Grand Tetons that grace the cover of the Sierra Club handbook, and a series of films about American folklore.

Despite occasional moments in the spotlight, though, Mr. Pickow was essentially anonymous until recently. ''Nobody looks at or even cares about print picture credits or even film photography credits,'' he said in an interview in the home he shares with Jean Ritchie, the acclaimed folk singer and folklorist, and his wife and collaborator for 50 years.

About a year ago, however, a friend who runs a small country store in Maine asked Mr. Pickow to ''give him a couple of photographs to hang -- and maybe even sell -- in his store,'' Mr. Pickow recalled. ''And lo and behold, they sold.''

Mr. Pickow still does not think of himself as an art photographer, but when the local library asked him to show his work, he agreed. The monthlong exhibition of 46 prints, which runs through Friday, features a selection of black-and-white stills chronicling his career. There are the artists like Thomas Hart Benton, Reginald Marsh, Chaim Gross and Edward Hopper, all of whom he photographed in Greenwich Village, where the couple lived in before settling here in 1955.

As they had two small sons during those years, ''I couldn't travel the way I usually did,'' Mr. Pickow explained. ''So I started doing those portraits.

''The Marsh shot was real eerie. I made it at his Union Square studio, and we got to talking about a wall he had covered with pictures of dead artists. 'I keep them there to remember who's still alive,' he told me by way of explanation. Well, wouldn't you know it? The day after the shoot, Marsh died.''

There are pictures of folk-music greats like Josh White, Pete Seeger, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, whom Mr. Pickow met through Ms. Ritchie and photographed extensively. And a major segment is devoted to pictures he took in Ireland in 1952 and 1953, when Ms. Ritchie was there on a Fulbright fellowship exploring the roots of folk music. Along with her tape recordings of music, his images of traditional musicians and craftspeople were acquired by University College Galway in Ireland in 1996. Called ''The Ritchie-Pickow Archive: A Celebration of Life and Culture in 1950's Ireland,'' it has traveled throughout Ireland.

Born in Los Angeles but reared in Brooklyn, Mr. Pickow, 77, started out to be an artist or an architect, studying at Cooper Union in Manhattan. World War II intervened, and although he was unable to serve because of a physical disability, he found himself making training films for the Navy and switched career plans to cinematography. As fate would have it -- and fate, he said, has pretty much shaped his career -- after the war ''the documentary film industry disappeared in New York,'' he said.

He turned to still photography. Pictures he took and sold freelance during extended bike trips through Europe and Israel in 1947 and 1948 brought him to the attention of Three Lions Inc., a prestigious international photographic agency. Producing stills for textbooks, calendars, Bibles, advertisements and magazine and newspaper articles, he became the agency's principal photographer. ''Probably because I was making too much money,'' he said, ''they made me a partner.''

A chance meeting in the late 1940's with the Kentucky-born Ms. Ritchie, who was then supporting herself as a social worker at the Henry Street Settlement on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, led to the next and, he said, most significant phase of his professional and personal life. She piqued his interest in music, especially folk music. When he eventually moved to studio photography, he developed a knack for taking pictures of musicians that made him a leading photographer for album covers.

He recalls his adventure with Dizzy Gillespie during the 1964-65 World's Fair in New York. ''It was for an album of movie music, and since there was a sound stage on exhibit at the fair, the studio wanted me to shoot Dizzy on the set,'' Mr. Pickow said. 'Only Dizzy insisted on having his little poodle in the picture, and to this day I don't know how I managed to make sense of Dizzy on a movie set holding a poodle, but I did.''

Mr. Pickow's most unforgettable experience by far involved Lena Horne. ''She came to the studio to look at a series of shots we had taken the day before, and she just hated them,'' he said. ''She took a scissors out of her bag and cut them all up into tiny pieces. It was the first -- and last -- time that had ever happened to me. Sure, we later got pictures for the album, but after all these years, just thinking about her cutting up those pictures makes me, well, feel bad.''

In his one previous brush with fame, Mr. Pickow made headlines throughout the world as ''the man who stopped Big Ben.'' Accompanying Ms. Ritchie on one of her study tours, in 1960 Mr. Pickow picked up an assignment to photograph maintenance work on the famed London clock. Unfortunately, the technician failed to move a ladder in time, and the works got stuck. It was the first time that had happened; Big Ben had survived even the Blitz without missing a beat. It took 20 minutes to pinpoint the cause and restart the clock. To help the technician keep his job, Mr. Pickow told him to ''say I did it,'' Mr. Pickow said.

He and Ms. Ritchie have collaborated on successful books like ''Celebration of Life'' (Music Sales Corporation, 1971) and ''The Dulcimer Book.'' Accompanying her on concert tours, Mr. Pickow snapped away, building up a vast reservoir of stills that he ultimately put together as slide shows flashed on screen by up to 12 projectors.

When it became possible to make videos easily and ''slide shows became cumbersome and disappeared,'' he switched to videos. He also returned to film making as both a cinematographer and a producer of films like ''Festival,'' about the Newport Folk Festival, which won an award at the Cannes International Film Festival and received an Academy Award nomination. He branched out to create, with the folk singer and composer Oscar Brand, multi-media theatrical pieces like ''Sing America Sing'' for the bicentennial celebration at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington and two recent productions at the 92d Street Y in Manhattan, ''Bill of Rights'' and ''Protest Songs.''

Working on these video and multimedia productions now takes up much of his professional time. With Ms. Ritchie, Mr. Brand and Tom Paxton, he is to participate in a folk festival on May 22 and 23 at the Landmark on Main Street here.

''I was never really great at going out and looking for work,'' he said, explaining his relative inactivity these days. ''I wait until some one comes to me.''

George Pickow's photographs remain on view through Friday at the Port Washington Library, 1 Library Drive. A selection of his films, including ''Oss! Oss! Wee Oss!,'' a record of May Day fertility rites in Cornwall; ''Music and Images from Ireland;'' ''Stir-Off,'' an account of making molasses in Viper, Ky, and segments from ''Festival'' will be shown at the library tomorrow at 8 P.M. Information: 883-4400.

Photos: George Pickow and Jean Ritchie at their home in Port Washington. His library exhibition includes this photograph of Carl Sandburg. (Rebecca Cooney for The New York Times)

Subject: RE: Sad News - RIP George Pickow (8 Dec 2010, age 91)
From: Matthew Edwards
Date: 16 Dec 10 - 01:55 PM

I'm very sorry to hear this news - my condolences to Jean and the family.

Some of George's legacy is contained in the wonderful George Pickow Image Collection at the James Hardiman Library in the National University of Ireland, Galway.

Matthew

Subject: RE: Sad News - RIP George Pickow (8 Dec 2010, age 91)
From: Big Mick
Date: 16 Dec 10 - 01:58 PM

Thanks for tracking that down, Kat. What a wonderful piece about a gentle and kind man. And a brilliant photographer and videographer to boot.

I only met him twice, both times at the Ritchie-Pickow home. We were there for the annual picnic and were fortunate enough to stick around and chat on the porch. My youngest daughter came the last time we went, and on the way home she had me tell her all about George and Jean. She remarked as how she thought someone was lucky to have them for grandparents cause they were such sweet people. She told me she was really glad she got to meet them. I agree.

Darling Jean and boys, you are being held deep in my heart today. I am not around a lot because of my obligations to my parents and family just now. But know that this mans voice will long be found in those he has touched.

All the best,

Mick

Subject: RE: Sad News - RIP George Pickow (8 Dec 2010, age 91)
From: JennieG
Date: 16 Dec 10 - 04:16 PM

My condolences to Jean, and her sons....such sad news.

JennieG

Subject: RE: Sad News - RIP George Pickow (8 Dec 2010, age 91)
From: WFDU - Ron Olesko
Date: 16 Dec 10 - 04:26 PM

I am so very sorry to hear this news. I met George only once after doing an interview with Jean at their home. His warm welcome made me feel like I'd known him all my life. Two of the kindest and most beautiful souls I've ever met. My condolences to Jean and her sons.. you are all in my thoughts and prayers.

Subject: RE: Sad News - RIP George Pickow (8 Dec 2010, age 91)
From: georgeward
Date: 16 Dec 10 - 05:24 PM

I just saw this thread. Jean, Jon, Peter: all I can offer are condolences...hardly enough for all the good times of years ago and all you have shared with us.    - George Ward

Subject: RE: Sad News - RIP George Pickow (8 Dec 2010, age 91)
From: Fortunato
Date: 16 Dec 10 - 06:15 PM

Jean, We am very sorry to learn of your loss.

Chance and Susette Shiver

Subject: RE: Sad News - RIP George Pickow (8 Dec 2010, age 91)
From: katlaughing
Date: 16 Dec 10 - 06:31 PM

Thank you, Matthew, for the link to the Pickow Collection.

Mick, I thought it was a wonderful article, too. Thanks.

Subject: RE: Sad News - RIP George Pickow (8 Dec 2010, age 91)
From: GUEST,Regina Bartlett
Date: 16 Dec 10 - 10:48 PM

After I heard the sad news last night I thought about how I first met George Pickow and Jean Ritchie. It was almost 30 years ago in the parking lot at UCSC. We were on our way to hear Bella Abzug speak. I had just participated in the Pacific Rim Dulcimer Gathering in Los Gatos and gave Jean a redwood burl carving of a dulcimer.    As we walked together to the theater we chatted and I learned that Jean was an Artist in Residence at UCSC and then I was invited to Jean's Dulcimer workshop. It changed my life and Jean has made a lasting impression as a musician and songwriter and human being.

I'm sad for Jean that George has passed on.
I know that she has a sad song now.
They were so conscious of each other and so full of love and very sweet people. I will play something special Sunday at Church on my dulcimer at Communion and pray for their family. God Bless

Subject: RE: Sad News - RIP George Pickow (8 Dec 2010, age
From: Mark Ross
Date: 17 Dec 10 - 01:16 AM

I met George when I worked at the NY Folklore Center in the '70's, a fine, gracious, gentle, man. Sorry to hear of his passing. My condolences to the family.


Mark Ross

Subject: RE: Sad News - RIP George Pickow (8 Dec 2010, age 91)
From: Genie
Date: 17 Dec 10 - 02:36 AM

Jean, Jon, and Peter, my condolences to you and your family.

Subject: RE: Sad News - RIP George Pickow (8 Dec 2010, age 91)
From: GUEST,Bob Coltman
Date: 17 Dec 10 - 10:03 AM

Jean, Amba and I are mourning for you in your great loss. With love, Bob

Subject: RE: Sad News - RIP George Pickow (8 Dec 2010, age 91)
From: GUEST,Philippa
Date: 17 Dec 10 - 11:39 AM

my heartfelt condolences, I am so sad to read this news

Subject: RE: Sad News - RIP George Pickow (8 Dec 2010, age 91)
From: GUEST,janet weinberg
Date: 18 Dec 10 - 11:02 PM

Jean, Jon, Peter. I am so sorry. May your memories comfort you. Janet

Subject: RE: Sad News - RIP George Pickow (8 Dec 2010, age 91)
From: GUEST,Sheila
Date: 19 Dec 10 - 10:57 AM

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/19/arts/design/19pickow.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper

Sadly, this was in today's NYTimes.
I remember meeting Jean and George at the gathering Big Mick mentioned earlier. No finer, more gracious people could be found. I am looking at The Swapping Song Book with photos by George and am touched by the sensitivity and beauty of his photographs; what a lasting legacy he leaves. My deepest condolences.
Sheila

Subject: RE: Sad News - RIP George Pickow (8 Dec 2010, age 91)
From: elfcape
Date: 19 Dec 10 - 11:16 AM

Lives come to an end, but Jon and Peter have borne a heavy load in the last 3 years. I hope George's passing did not add too much to their burden. And I hope Jean is well enough to continue to find joy in living.

Subject: RE: Sad News - RIP George Pickow (8 Dec 2010, age 91)
From: katlaughing
Date: 19 Dec 10 - 04:07 PM

UPI just released an obit, too: CLick Here.

Subject: RE: Sad News - RIP George Pickow (8 Dec 2010, age 91)
From: GUEST,Hollowfox
Date: 19 Dec 10 - 04:12 PM

I'm so sorry to hear this. He was such a kind patient man. I met him at the first folk festival I ever helped organize, at Geneseo NY in February 1971. There was a blizzard that weekend. He and his family were kind enough to give another performer a ride home to New York City, and kind enough to keep a straight face when, just as my mother did to me, I told them to call me when they got home so I knew they got there safely. I'll miss him. Peter and Jon, my thoughts are with you.

Subject: RE: Sad News - RIP George Pickow (8 Dec 2010, age 91)
From: GUEST,Peggy Lowenherz-Stolowitz
Date: 19 Dec 10 - 05:06 PM

I was sorry to hear this sad news. George worked with my Father at Three Lions Picture agency. I knew George and Jean fairly well When I left NYC George took my very frisky dog for his children.

Subject: RE: Sad News - RIP George Pickow (8 Dec 2010, age 91)
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 19 Dec 10 - 05:12 PM

Sad to hear this. Interesting that his name wasn't coupled with that of his wife. a la Blake Edwards,down in BS.

Subject: Obit: George Pickow Dec. 18, 2010
From: Amos
Date: 19 Dec 10 - 05:23 PM

George Pickow, a photographer best known for the thousands of album covers in which he captured the titans of folk, jazz and pop music Ñ including Theodore Bikel, Louis Armstrong and Lena Horne Ñ in their midcentury prime, died on Dec. 10 in Roslyn, N.Y. He was 88 and lived in Port Washington, on Long Island.

The cause was respiratory failure, his son Jon said. Mr. Pickow also had a home in Viper, Ky., the birthplace of his wife, the folk singer Jean Ritchie.

---

Jean, I know that all of our hearts go out to you. This is a terrible loss. I wish you great courage.


A

Subject: RE: Obit: RIP George Pickow (10 Dec 2010, age 91)
From: Jeri
Date: 19 Dec 10 - 05:46 PM

There's an obituary in the NY Times, but it's available to everyone here (UPI Entertainment News).

Subject: RE: Obit: RIP George Pickow (10 Dec 2010, age 91)
From: Ed Brown
Date: 19 Dec 10 - 07:39 PM

So sad to learn that George Pickow has died.

So glad that he lived ... and that I had the opportunity to see his photos as part of a concert that Jean did at the Sounding Board in CT a number of years ago.

Thanks for links to the online obituary. Peace to all.

Subject: RE: Obit: RIP George Pickow (10 Dec 2010, age 91)
From: artbrooks
Date: 19 Dec 10 - 09:20 PM

In honor of George Pickow, Thistle and Shamrock is showcasing Jean this week.

Subject: RE: Obit: RIP George Pickow (10 Dec 2010, age 91)
From: wysiwyg
Date: 20 Dec 10 - 09:33 AM

My fervent condolences to those missing one who lived such a full life, and my salute to that life.

~Susan

Subject: RE: Obit: RIP George Pickow (10 Dec 2010, age 91)
From: Uncle Phil
Date: 20 Dec 10 - 11:47 AM

Condolences to Jean and family.
- Phil