In Memoriam
Posted: August 22nd, 2017, 3:56 am
In the years that LibriVox has been active, we have seen many readers come and go - and some of them, unfortunately, are gone forever. Here, we honour them with the gems they produced for our catalogue.
If you do know of LibriVoxers who have passed away, please let us know (here in the forums or by sending an email to info @ librivox.org), so we can add them to this list.
The LibriVox legacy of Israel Radvinski (1948 - 2007) consists of only one work. The one single book he read for Librivox was the Bible - Genesis - in Hebrew.
One of our oldest readers ever was Dorothy Lieder (1915 - 2008). She was already 92 when she read one story of The Burgess Bird Book For Children, as a collaborative with her son.
Sadly, we know very little of our reader bryfee (1949 - 2008), not even his name, but he did take part in our second version of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.
Chris icyjumbo (1964 - 2010) died way too young from an aggressive form of oesophageal cancer. His legacy contains The Love Letters of Abelard and Heloise, read as a duet.
An early LibriVox member and admin was Alan Davis Drake (1945 - 2010), who specialised in poetry. He read a number of poetry books solo, among them are the Selected Early Poems of William Carlos Williams.
Good and evil are never far apart in the books by Charles Dickens. Cynthia Lyons (1946 - 2011) should know since she took the time to read two, and one of them is the epic Bleak House.
Probably lots of fun in reading had Gregg Margarite (1957 - 2012). The Sci-fi buff read many pulp magazine stories from the 60s. A rather unusual one is The Runaway Skyscraper by Murray Leinster.
Our late reader John E. Farell (1961 - 2014) had a love for poetry. Although he didn't do a solo recording, he read five poems in Baudelaire's The Flowers of Evil.
Australian Lucy Burgoyne (1950 - 2014) loved children's books. Even though she had part of her jawbone removed due to cancer, she read seven books by Arthur Scott Bailey, among them The Tale of Grandfather Mole
One of our earliest readers, Denny Sayers (d. 2015), must have been a fan of Daniel Defoe, after all, he read six books of this author. Among them is the swashbuckler The Life, Adventures & Piracies of Captain Singleton.
A beloved grandfather was Lars Rolander (1942 - 2016) from Sweden. He was on a mission to bring the books of Selma Lagerlöf to life and to a wider audience. A bit out there is her short ghost story Thy Soul Shall Bear Witness.
A very dry form of humour and wit was the style of Andy Minter (1934 - 2017). His rendition of Stevenson's The Wrong Box perfectly shows his personality.
When you look up mim@can (1949 - 2017) in our catalogue, you will find only a single section in The Scottish Chiefs. However, this is only a tiny part of her LibriVox story, since she was a DPL for more than 250 of our books.
Ray Kasper (1938 - 2017) loved being dramatic - out of his 17 projects, 8 were roles in LibriVox plays. His final performance was Pew for Treasure Island: A play in 4 acts.
Drama lover and "AmateurOzmologist", Miriam Esther Goldman (1991 - 2017) especially enjoyed the books by Frank L. Baum. She was involved in four of his books, one of them was the dramatic reading of Ozma of Oz, where she narrated and played some minor characters.
Vermont native Matt Wills (1949 - 2017) was very enthusiastic about recording. Sadly, he could only read two sections before he passed away after a battle with lung cancer. His voice is eternalized in Sylvie and Bruno by Lewis Carroll.
Despite being worried about his hoarseness caused by a VNS, Matthew Henkin (1993 - 2018) plunged into LibriVox with great enthusiasm. His sojourn here was very short, but among his legacy is The Rabbi's Bogey-Man for children, recorded especially with his nephews and nieces in mind.
A renowned scholar and expert of Chinese history in real life, on LibriVox Nicholas Clifford (1930 - 2019) indulged in his love for the writing of Henry James. A total of 24 of James' books were read by him, the very last one was The Aspern Papers.
Old Testament lecturer Tim Bulkeley (1948 - 2019) got around: He taught in Africa, New Zealand, Asia... On LV, he greatly enjoyed recording the works of Rudyard Kipling. He read 6 books by the Nobel Prize Winner, among them one that fits his own life closely: Letters of Travel.
Dramatic works aficionado Beth Thomas (1974 - 2020) recorded parts in over 300 projects, as well as coordinating more than 70. While some of her recordings will finish posthumously, the last project she saw catalogued before her death is Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm.
Kristin Hughes (1974 - 2021) discovered LibriVox already in 2006 and was one of our earliest admins. She contributed to numerous projects, but poetry held a special place in her heart. As a soloist, she read two collections of poetry by Edna St. Vincent Millay.
Our reader Peter Thomlinson (1940 - 2022) had a heart for poetry and frequently contributed to our various collections, be it poetry, short stories, or short nonfiction. He also enjoyed the books by Andy Adams, but with Gustav Kobbe's The Love of Great Composers, he went back to his roots as a retired musician.
Chicago-born Tom Hirsch (1947 - 2022) had an exciting life with many occupations that brought him to different parts of the US. On LibriVox he focused on books for teen boys, and given that once upon a time he held a pilot's licence, his favourite book was probably The Airship Boys in the Great War.
Richard Kilmer's (1942 - 2022) taste in books was rather eclectic and ranged from mysteries and westerns to sci-fi and even serious books. When he joined LibriVox in 2009, he probably didn't plan to read almost 3000 sections in total and 75 solos. It all started out with his first solo, the western The Night Horseman by Max Brand.
LibriVox wouldn't be what it is today without the enormous contributions of Kara Shallenberg (1969 - 2023), founding member, long-term admin, and reader of 46 solos. Although forced to scale back due to chronic illness, she could contribute her favourite book, The Great Gatsby, just when it became pd for LibriVox.
If you do know of LibriVoxers who have passed away, please let us know (here in the forums or by sending an email to info @ librivox.org), so we can add them to this list.
The LibriVox legacy of Israel Radvinski (1948 - 2007) consists of only one work. The one single book he read for Librivox was the Bible - Genesis - in Hebrew.
One of our oldest readers ever was Dorothy Lieder (1915 - 2008). She was already 92 when she read one story of The Burgess Bird Book For Children, as a collaborative with her son.
Sadly, we know very little of our reader bryfee (1949 - 2008), not even his name, but he did take part in our second version of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.
Chris icyjumbo (1964 - 2010) died way too young from an aggressive form of oesophageal cancer. His legacy contains The Love Letters of Abelard and Heloise, read as a duet.
An early LibriVox member and admin was Alan Davis Drake (1945 - 2010), who specialised in poetry. He read a number of poetry books solo, among them are the Selected Early Poems of William Carlos Williams.
Good and evil are never far apart in the books by Charles Dickens. Cynthia Lyons (1946 - 2011) should know since she took the time to read two, and one of them is the epic Bleak House.
Probably lots of fun in reading had Gregg Margarite (1957 - 2012). The Sci-fi buff read many pulp magazine stories from the 60s. A rather unusual one is The Runaway Skyscraper by Murray Leinster.
Our late reader John E. Farell (1961 - 2014) had a love for poetry. Although he didn't do a solo recording, he read five poems in Baudelaire's The Flowers of Evil.
Australian Lucy Burgoyne (1950 - 2014) loved children's books. Even though she had part of her jawbone removed due to cancer, she read seven books by Arthur Scott Bailey, among them The Tale of Grandfather Mole
One of our earliest readers, Denny Sayers (d. 2015), must have been a fan of Daniel Defoe, after all, he read six books of this author. Among them is the swashbuckler The Life, Adventures & Piracies of Captain Singleton.
A beloved grandfather was Lars Rolander (1942 - 2016) from Sweden. He was on a mission to bring the books of Selma Lagerlöf to life and to a wider audience. A bit out there is her short ghost story Thy Soul Shall Bear Witness.
A very dry form of humour and wit was the style of Andy Minter (1934 - 2017). His rendition of Stevenson's The Wrong Box perfectly shows his personality.
When you look up mim@can (1949 - 2017) in our catalogue, you will find only a single section in The Scottish Chiefs. However, this is only a tiny part of her LibriVox story, since she was a DPL for more than 250 of our books.
Ray Kasper (1938 - 2017) loved being dramatic - out of his 17 projects, 8 were roles in LibriVox plays. His final performance was Pew for Treasure Island: A play in 4 acts.
Drama lover and "AmateurOzmologist", Miriam Esther Goldman (1991 - 2017) especially enjoyed the books by Frank L. Baum. She was involved in four of his books, one of them was the dramatic reading of Ozma of Oz, where she narrated and played some minor characters.
Vermont native Matt Wills (1949 - 2017) was very enthusiastic about recording. Sadly, he could only read two sections before he passed away after a battle with lung cancer. His voice is eternalized in Sylvie and Bruno by Lewis Carroll.
Despite being worried about his hoarseness caused by a VNS, Matthew Henkin (1993 - 2018) plunged into LibriVox with great enthusiasm. His sojourn here was very short, but among his legacy is The Rabbi's Bogey-Man for children, recorded especially with his nephews and nieces in mind.
A renowned scholar and expert of Chinese history in real life, on LibriVox Nicholas Clifford (1930 - 2019) indulged in his love for the writing of Henry James. A total of 24 of James' books were read by him, the very last one was The Aspern Papers.
Old Testament lecturer Tim Bulkeley (1948 - 2019) got around: He taught in Africa, New Zealand, Asia... On LV, he greatly enjoyed recording the works of Rudyard Kipling. He read 6 books by the Nobel Prize Winner, among them one that fits his own life closely: Letters of Travel.
Dramatic works aficionado Beth Thomas (1974 - 2020) recorded parts in over 300 projects, as well as coordinating more than 70. While some of her recordings will finish posthumously, the last project she saw catalogued before her death is Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm.
Kristin Hughes (1974 - 2021) discovered LibriVox already in 2006 and was one of our earliest admins. She contributed to numerous projects, but poetry held a special place in her heart. As a soloist, she read two collections of poetry by Edna St. Vincent Millay.
Our reader Peter Thomlinson (1940 - 2022) had a heart for poetry and frequently contributed to our various collections, be it poetry, short stories, or short nonfiction. He also enjoyed the books by Andy Adams, but with Gustav Kobbe's The Love of Great Composers, he went back to his roots as a retired musician.
Chicago-born Tom Hirsch (1947 - 2022) had an exciting life with many occupations that brought him to different parts of the US. On LibriVox he focused on books for teen boys, and given that once upon a time he held a pilot's licence, his favourite book was probably The Airship Boys in the Great War.
Richard Kilmer's (1942 - 2022) taste in books was rather eclectic and ranged from mysteries and westerns to sci-fi and even serious books. When he joined LibriVox in 2009, he probably didn't plan to read almost 3000 sections in total and 75 solos. It all started out with his first solo, the western The Night Horseman by Max Brand.
LibriVox wouldn't be what it is today without the enormous contributions of Kara Shallenberg (1969 - 2023), founding member, long-term admin, and reader of 46 solos. Although forced to scale back due to chronic illness, she could contribute her favourite book, The Great Gatsby, just when it became pd for LibriVox.