I needed some information about an old friend, the late, great Harvey
Roehl -- music man, calliope player, and owner of the Vestal Press.
So of course I went immediately to the MMD Subject Archives, where
all the departed are memorialized under the subject word "Passing."

I was shocked to find no mention of Harvey there!  Why???  Of all
people, Harvey's passing should have been memorialized.  I was
dumbstruck!

Well, the answer is that Harvey's death on June 21, 2000, was announced
to the MMD in a terse message from his grieving wife, Marion Roehl,
titled simply "Harvey Roehl Passed Away."  And there in the subject
index under "Passed" were the memorials for Harvey which I was seeking
(Marion's own death is listed in "Passing" under the date 2004.02.24.)

Out of curiosity, I then searched the subject archives under "Death,"
finding a dozen more notable names, including Claes Friberg, John
Farrell, and my friend Marc Elbasani.

So there are a couple of other obituary "lists" in the MMD subject
archives besides the one big "Passing" list.   Just letting you know,
and signing off sadly.

Matthew Caulfield
Irondequoit, New York

 [ Matthew, thanks for your thoughts.  It's sad how many of our friends
 [ involved in Mechanical Music have passed away over the last 2 decades!
 [ 
 [ I do not object to "curating" the subject names in the Archives
 [ to make them more useful.   I'll give you a call in the coming days
 [ for your advice.   I invite others who have suggestions for subject
 [ line changes for usability of the Archives to contact me privately.
 [ --Jody