Fw: Remembering John Parrish

[katia mucha]

Dear friends of folk music and dance,

Here is a lovely remembrance of John Parrish who was so important to the folk community.

Sadly, Bruce 

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From: Toby Blomé <toby4...@sonic.net>

Remembering John Parrish

      July 7,1947 - July 2025

We’ll Deeply Miss You Dear Friend!

     

JOHN with friends at Mendocino Woodlands.   (Balkan Camp?)  

We regret to inform everyone that our longtime friend, John Parrish, who had been living in Michigan in recent years died sometime in late July of unknown causes. When he didn’t show up at Ti Ti Tabor, an Hungarian music & dance camp in Seattle, an inquiry was sent out and ultimately John’s body was found in his home in Michigan on August 4. 

John was an icon at our annual Scandia Camp Mendocino for decades.  In some ways it’s a relief to know that Scandia Camp ended this year.  It’s difficult to fathom a Mendocino Camp without John Parrish. He brought his incredible humor, his clever and brilliant mind, his gentle kindness, his amazing creativity and so much more, wherever his footsteps landed. His creativity, playfulness and ingenuity with the instruments he played was always a treat.  He was often daring to break tradition in a playful way, though he also highly valued and cherished tradition as well.  Sometimes John was given a short set to play at one of Scandia Camp’s evening parties, where he would play solo, or, more often, invite some of his musical friends to join him.  It was always a special delight.

John spent much of his adult years in the Chicago area, but always managed to fill up his summer and much of his year hopping from one folk dance/music event to another.  He was deeply devoted to the folk music & dance scene, and we often blessed to be entertained at least once or twice by John’s special talents or spontaneous creativity….whether it be through his Tuvan throat-singing from Mongolia, or playing some tune on the metal tubing of his crutch that he was hobbling around on, or some other entertaining feat.

Listen to John playing his "crutch flute" in THIS VIDEO.  (2012)

A sweet memory shared on Facebook by Shawn Parrish, his nephew, tells so much about what John’s priorities were:

"As a small child I remember visiting 'Uncle John' in Chicago. His tiny apartment was filled with hundreds of records. His only furniture was a mattress and his stereo record player. He really loved music!"   

Go to John's Facebook page HERE to read more about the memories John left behind with others.

Dear John,  

We will miss you dearly.  It’s very sad that your life ended so suddenly, but you lived your life to the fullest and touched so many lives with your special gifts. We were lucky to have known you.  RIP dear friend!  🙏♥️🎶♥️🙏

Here’s John Parrish and Peter Michaelsen playing a munnharp duo at Scandia Camp Menocino one year.