Someone on fb shared this writing from Ralph and it seems appropriate to include it here:
updated by @robin-thompson: 12/31/20 03:06:14PM
Sad News -- RIP Ralph Lee Smith
updated by @robin-thompson: 12/31/20 03:06:14PM
Ralph Lee Smith has given the mountain dulcimer world so much! Like Ken H, I would like to have met both Jean Ritchie and Ralph yet both have now joined the ancestors.
Ralph contributed much to our understanding of dulcimers, where they came from, and how they evolved. For anyone interested in solid scholarship his books are worth reading. I met him once. He was a kind person who was generous in sharing his collection of instruments as well as his knowledge.
--
Bob
Site Moderator
The greatest music is made for love, not for money -- Greg Lake
R.I.P. Ralph.
My greatest regrets as a dulcimer person are that I never had the chance to meet and know Ralph and Jean Ritchie.
updated by @ken-hulme: 12/31/20 06:52:49AM
I feel fortunate to have met Ralph Lee Smith several times, most notably at Dulcimer U at Western Carolina University. What a kind, knowledgeable man! He was able to impart his knowledge about the mountain dulcimer in a way that communicated how pleased he was to answer your question or help you understand something better. He was never arrogant about what he knew--or how much, He just enjoyed sharing what he knew with others--and we were all richly blessed. Rest in peace, dear man.
--
Jan Potts, Lexington, KY
Site Moderator
"Use what talents you possess; the woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best." Henry Van Dyke
We all knew this day was coming, but we didn't know WHEN. It's still very sad for us who knew Ralph, and sad for the dulcimer world at large. He left a great quantity of scholarly work behind, which will instruct and entertain musicians and luthiers for many years. Rest in peace, dear friend.
Thank you Ken. It's a deep loss for the dulcimer world. Ralph Lee Smith has given us all so much.
--
Site Owner
Those irritated by grain of sand best avoid beach.
-Strumelia proverb c.1990
Sad news indeed. Ralph's knowledge of the evolution of the dulcimer far surpassed that of any else living or dead. We will be forever in his debt for his publications on dulcimer history.
--
Dusty T., Northern California
Site Moderator
As a musician, you have to keep one foot back in the past and one foot forward into the future.
-- Dizzy Gillespie
It is with a great deal of sadness that I share the news that Ralph Lee Smith died this morning, December 30, 2020, at his home in Virginia. He was 93 years old. I will share more when I have collected myself. R.I.P. Ralph.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
