Edward D. "Sandy" Ives

ORONO - Edward D. "Sandy" Ives passed away peacefully Aug. 1, 2009, at his home. Sandy was born Sept. 4, 1925, in White Plains, N.Y., the son of Warren L. and Millicent (Dawson) Ives. In addition to his loving family, he leaves behind a legacy of songs, stories and cherished memories among the countless people whose lives he touched as teacher, researcher, writer and friend. He was predeceased by his parents; an infant brother, Baby John; and his beloved sister, Ruth. He is survived by his wife of 57 years, "Bobby" Barbara Ann Herrel; and their children and their spouses, Stephen and Joyce Ives of Thornton, N.H., Nathaniel Ives and Julie Russell of Portland and Sarah Ives-Lewis and David Lewis of Point Arena, Calif. Prior to coming to the University of Maine, where he taught for 44 years, Sandy served in the Marine Corps, graduated from Hamilton College with a bachelor's degree in English and history, and received his Master of Arts degree in medieval literature at Columbia University. He received his doctorate in folklore from Indiana University in 1962. Sandy's teaching career was long and varied, beginning as an English instructor at Illinois College from 1950 to 1953, continuing through The City College of New York from 1953 to 1954, and on to the University of Maine. At the University of Maine, Sandy taught first in the English Department and later in the Department of Anthropology. In addition, he was a guest lecturer at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, and the University of Sheffield, England. He retired in 1999. His many students and colleagues will remember him as an inspiring and dedicated educator. Soon after his arrival in Maine, Sandy would later recall, "having discovered...that I'd have to do something to bring my income up to the poverty level - I set up a sideline as a folk-singer...[B]ut while my standard repertoire was adequate for high-school assemblies, I soon saw that something was missing when I played for older and more local audiences. 'Do you know any of the old woods songs?' I'd be asked." And that question sent Sandy off on a quest that would last a lifetime. Creating lasting relationships with the hundreds of people that he interviewed, and honoring their authorship and ownership at every stage, Sandy embodied professional and personal standards that profoundly influenced generations of his students. Sandy's contributions to folklore scholarship were numerous and important. He pioneered the use of oral history methodology in folklore collecting and his book on fieldwork was a landmark. His close study of logging traditions, especially the songs sung and listened to by woodsmen, was an important contribution to the study of occupational folklore, labor history, and the history of Maine and the Maritime Provinces of Canada. Sandy founded the Northeast Archives of Folklore and Oral History, now known as the Maine Folklife Center, in 1971 and served as its director for 22 years. The Archives was built upon his love of collecting folksongs, stories, proverbs and other oral traditions. Throughout the years, it has become a widely respected institution, drawing scholars and collectors from around the world. Sandy's first book, Larry Gorman, The Man Who Made The Songs, was published in 1964. It was reprinted in 1977, and again in 1993. He is also the author of Lawrence Doyle, The Farmer-Poet of Prince Edward Island (1971), Joe Scott, the Woodsman Songmaker (1978), George Magoon and the Downeast Game War (1988 and 1991), Folksongs of New Brunswick (1989), "The Bonny Earl of Murray": The Man, the Murder, the Ballad (1997) - which was published both in Scotland and the United States - and, in 1999, Drive Dull Care Away: Folksongs from Prince Edward Island. He co-authored several other books and had articles published in scholarly journals. He edited 33 volumes of Northeast Folklore, a publication of the Northeast Archives, and in 1959 he recorded Folk Songs of Maine for Folkways Records. His The Tape Recorded Interview: A Manual for Field Workers in Folklore and Oral History (1980 and 1995), and how-to video, "An Oral Historian's Work" (1987) have been used in countless workshops and courses across the country. Sandy was the recipient of many honors and awards, including a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Maine State Award from the Maine Council on the Arts and Humanities, the first Harvey A. Kantor Memorial Award for Outstanding Achievement in Oral History from the New England Association of Oral History, the Marius Barbeau Medal from the Folklore Studies Association of Canada, the Kenneth Goldstein Award for Lifetime Academic Leadership from the American Folklore Society, the Award of Honour for Lifetime Achievement from the Prince Edward Island Museum and Heritage Foundation and a Presidential Public Service Award from the University of Maine. He was a Folk Arts panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts, a Fellow of the American Folklore Society, a member of the Maine Arts Commission and was appointed to the Acadian Cultural Preservation Commission by the Secretary of the Interior. Sandy received honorary degrees from the University of Prince Edward Island and Memorial University of Newfoundland. In 2006 some of his earliest field recordings documenting the song tradition of the lumber camps were selected for inclusion in the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress. Sandy enjoyed many leisurely walks with Bobby and their beloved dogs, Osprey, Molly and Summer. In his youth, he was a dedicated dry fly-fisherman, and later in life he continued to pursue pickerel and smallmouth bass, "the gamest fish that swims," from the stern of a canoe. Sandy loved playing classical guitar, reading, poetry, singing, collecting wildflowers, hiking, canoeing, bird watching, astronomy and countless other pursuits. The family wishes to thank the following, Dr. Peter Millard, Dr. James Jarvis and the staff of the Center for Family Medicine, Dr. James Iannazzi at Acadia Hospital, and the nurses and aides at New Hope Hospice. A memorial service is planned for the fall. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Sandy's name to the Maine Folklife Center, care of the University of Maine Foundation, Buchanan Alumni House, Two Alumni Place, Orono, ME 04469-5792 or New Hope Hospice, P.O. Box 757, Holden, ME 04429.