Eric Winter r.i.p.
Ian Anderson
morning to say that Eric Winter died last night. He was 79. Apparently he
died peacefully in his sleep in hospital with his headphones on and music
playing. It was his long-ago expressed wish that his body will go to a
hospital and that he didn't want a funeral,
I'd spoken to him a few times just in the last couple of weeks and he'd
sounded more bright and cheerful than in quite a while, enthusing about
the big Broadside set just issued by Folkways, and reminiscing about the
'50s political song movement connected with the Aldermarston marches
etc, the campaign to get Pete Seeger to the UK in the early '60s when
he was blacklisted and passportless in the USA, and so on. I'm so sorry
that we weren't able to get more of those incredible stories, reminiscences
and anecdotes out of his memories. Thankfully, he'd entrusted us with
his Sing archive when he retired.
For those who didn't know him, apart from being the best company you
could ask for, Eric was a prime activist as the UK folk scene cranked into
action in the mid '50s, edited his magazine Sing (the UK equivalent of
Sing Out) for many years, was folk writer for the NME in the days
when they had a folk writer, was heavily involved in the first Keele (later
Loughborough) folk festivals and so on. A gentle giant, without whom . .
--
Ian Anderson
fRoots magazine
fro...@froots.demon.co.uk
http://www.froots.demon.co.uk/
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Derek Schofield
when he was a fund a stories about the early days of the folk scene, and his
many visits to Italy -- all told whilst drinking a liberal amount of Italian
wine.
Derek Schofield
Ian Anderson wrote in message <39F56D5C...@froots.off.demon.co.uk>...
Bob Plews
Derek Schofield wrote in message
<972410618.21612.0...@news.demon.co.uk>...
>a sad loss. I visited Eric on several occasions in the late 80s, early 90s
>when he was a fund a stories about the early days of the folk scene, and
his
>many visits to Italy -- all told whilst drinking a liberal amount of
Italian
>wine.
>
>Derek Schofield
>
>Ian Anderson wrote in message <39F56D5C...@froots.off.demon.co.uk>...
>>I'm sorry to be a bearer of sad news, but Audrey Winter called this
>>
>>For those who didn't know him, apart from being the best company you
>>could ask for, Eric was a prime activist as the UK folk scene cranked into
>>action in the mid '50s, edited his magazine Sing (the UK equivalent of
>>Sing Out) for many years, was folk writer for the NME in the days
>>when they had a folk writer, was heavily involved in the first Keele
(later
>>Loughborough) folk festivals and so on. A gentle giant, without whom . .
......and his like, we might not be here doing what we're doing. I never met
Eric Winter but I read his words avidly. He was always a good writer and
a sharp observer of what used to be called the "folk scene" - we all owe him
whether we know it or not. Good lad, him.......
Bob Plews