The Passing of a Folklorist

Folklorist Sandy Ives passed away this week in Maine at age 89. He was a long-time professor of folklore and anthropology at the University of Maine specializing in folk songs and the folklore of lumbermen. He also served as director of the Maine Folklife Center.

His love of local folklore sealed his relationship to his adopted state of Maine, as described by current Maine Folklife Center director Pauleena MacDougall:

Because so many of the Maine songs had to do with river drives and woods work. . .he soon found himself searching for more information about the Maine woods. His excitement grew and he no longer considered leaving Maine.

A full obituary can be found here at the Bangor Daily News.

And a list of publications available from the folklorist can be found on this link from Amazon.

A preview of the book he contributed to - along with Henry Glassie and John Szwed - can be found on this link from Googlebooks.