[FA Worldmusic] Tom Terrell: An appreciation

[Robert Weisberg]

A really sweet guy.  I didn't know him that well either.  But I had met 
him a few times back in the Mango days when he helped hook me up on some 
interviews and he was great.  And then more recently re-introduced via my 
pal Tom Pryor of National Geographic World Music, who was pretty close to 
Tom and I know taking this pretty hard.  So it goes...


Rob W

************

On Thu, 29 Nov 2007, Dore Stein wrote:

> Hi Sean,
>
> Somehow you've eased the sad news of Tom's passing with your heartfelt
> tribute that captures Tom's irrepressible spirit.
>
> I mainly knew Tom from the many artist/cd write-ups he wrote during his
> record promo days. But I still felt like I knew him. He had a signature
> style that burst with humor and creative, and he knew his stuff.
>
> peace, brother
>
> Dore
>
>
> On Nov 29, 2007 3:20 PM, Sean Barlow <Sean at afropop.org> wrote:
>
>> I am sad to report that our great friend and colleague Tom Terrell
>> passed this morning. He died of prostate cancer surrounded by family and
>> friends. You may have heard his idiosyncratic reviews of Afropop and
>> world music CDs on NPR's "All Things Considered." He charmed ten million
>> people at a pop! Tom was a pioneering world music journalist whose
>> chops, taste and gregarious sense of humor won over his audience and
>> colleagues alike. He has hundreds and hundreds of friends. An amazing
>> testament to his humanity.
>>
>>
>>
>> I first met Tom when he was working at Mango Records back in its heyday.
>> Tom took on the, shall we say, challenging job of road managing the 1989
>> first U.S. tour of the Lion of Zimbabwe, Thomas Mapfumo...a roaring
>> adventure bussing across the highways and byways of America. Tom always
>> relished sharing with me, a fellow intense Thomas fan and insider in
>> MapfumoLand, that his siren call whenever they stopped in cities or
>> small towns was "Attention Shoppers!" Monster movies, sneakers...America
>> was a joyful place to be. Tom had a smiling face and a laugh relishing
>> the absurdity of life. During the last year as his cancer progressed
>> rapidly, he held the position as Program Director at World Zone, the
>> world music channel of XM satellite radio. Tom, everyone who had the
>> pleasure to be your friend in your way too short life is grieving today.
>> We love you and we will miss you. God bless you, and in the African
>> tradition, your extended family.
>>
>>
>>
>> Sean Barlow
>>
>> Afropop Worldwide
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>>
>
>
>
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> Dore Stein
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