Larry Appelbaum

Just learned today that he had passed. I volunteered for his show many times over the years. Oddly, a friend who was supposed to bring some meds to his apt late last year wasn't able to and so asked me to. I dropped them by as someone else was coming to see him and he wasn't near the door so I didn't see him clearly. Only just today learned it was Larry. I remember when he hosted Jazz discussions at Borders Books downtown as well. May he rest in peace.

Larry was a dear friend of mine as we both went through Kent Mill Elementary and E. Brooke Lee junior high together. His influence on me was remarkable on so many levels. I had my first psychedelic experience in his house as he was my spiritual sherpa for many years. So many amazing experiences together that I still think about and draw from even today. One in particular was in 6th grade when he led the entire recess in a march back into class singing "When The Saints Come Marching In" while...

November 1974. I had just started dating Joe Mc., and it wasn´t long before I realized Joe and Larry were great friends. They were Madrigals together. Turns out, Larry had a beautiful deep singing voice. I loved it. He was quite the talent. Eventually, I met Larry´s older brothers, Marc and Howard, at their store. Larry was often at Kemp Mill Records sitting behind the register listening to music while sifting through a stack of records and reading jacket covers. That picture of Larry is...

I met Larry in the early 80s at WPFW when I did a show there and found out that he worked at the LoC where I had a research carrel while doing Ph.D. research. We began having music-themed lunches at his apartment down the street from the LoC and became good friends. He even came to visit my family and I for Carnaval in Rio in 1987 and we stayed in touch on and off while I moved around the US and eventually overseas. Larry was great to converse with and a keen student of many things, and in...

I met Larry when my family moved to Kemp Mill, Maryland in 1967. He was one of my first friends and we stayed in contact until his death! I had just talked to Larry a few weeks ago on what I should see and do on my upcoming trip to Japan. Larry spent a year there and gave me some suggestions. I am so sad because I was making plans to visit Larry in DC in April.

Larry and I were roommates at Frostburg State U (college) for his sophomore year, my junior year. We met through a mutual love of the Firesign Theatre. I arrived with my prog rock albums and Larry with his jazz albums. Together we listened to a ton of great music and through him I met an amazing bunch of people who are still my closest friends. Later, I ran into him once or twice at the Library of Congress. He was so at home in that job and they were lucky to have him there with his immense...