Geoffrey A. Wheeler

Geoffrey A. Wheeler was a witty, charming, moody, vibrant, stubborn, charismatic, unpredictable, complex, inquisitive, talkative, curious, recalcitrant, funny, adventurous, and playful human being who started his journey here in 1936 and left his earthly body behind on October 12, 2020 to pursue other adventures to be determined.

He grew up in Newton, Massachusetts and was an alumnus of the Fessenden School. He attended Colby College in Maine, and then transferred to and graduated from UCLA. He started his career in publishing at the New York Daily Mirror in New York City. He lived in New York, New Jersey, Virginia, Indiana, and Colorado, and spent his career in writing, editing, and publishing various magazines in the hobby and craft industry, enjoying traveling and meeting many people over the years during his work.

Geoff loved jazz music, travel, photography, food, coffee, museums, and good conversation. He loved chatting with people about life and adventures, especially perfect strangers, and so his daughters nicknamed him “Chatty Dad.” He had many escapades throughout his life, only some of which he told us about, but we know he had a life peppered with many interesting events, including experiencing a lot of amazing live jazz in New York City in the 1950’s and 1960’s. He also took drum lessons from Philly Joe Jones, who helped kick-start his jazz record collecting.

In Geoff’s own words: “In the Fall of 1958, I began drum lessons with Philly Joe Jones, who lived in Brooklyn. I had met him at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem. At some point, he told me Riverside was discounting its records at the warehouse. I went over and bought as many I could afford at around $1.00 each. They were all new. I also began buying LPs at Sam Goody, E. J. Korvette’s, Liberty Music, two stores in the Village, and several other stores in Midtown and on the West Side. Two record guys I got to know were Jeff Atterton at Goody’s West Side store, and Harry Lim (formerly of Keynote and HL Records) at the East Side Third Avenue store. He worked downstairs. One day while browsing the bins upstairs, I met Hal McKusick looking for Lester Young LPs. I picked out several for him. Hal lived on the North Fork of Long Island and knew my mother-in-law.”

Perhaps the major love of his life was jazz music. He spent many, many years researching, hunting for records, cataloging his purchases, carefully cleaning, playing, and archiving his now-substantial collection of jazz 78s and LPs. Along the way he met many like-minded jazz devotees, and became the President of the International Association of Jazz Record Collectors (IAJRC) for about 20 years. He wrote and self-published several books, including Jazz By Mail - Record Clubs and Record Labels 1936-1958 and Columbia Records - Pioneer in Recorded Sound - America’s Oldest Record Company: 1886 to the Present (two volumes: History and Documents). He was working on a new book at end of life, which remains unfinished. We hope to donate his jazz archive to an institution so others can enjoy and learn from his life’s work of researching and collecting jazz music.

Geoff also had a lifelong interest in European travel. He met his first wife while traveling to Europe on a Yugoslavian cargo freighter in 1962. He had a particular adoration of Portugal and all things Portuguese, and made many trips there over the years. He loved the history, the landscapes and architecture, the pottery, the food, and especially the people. He wrote an unpublished travel book on Portugal and its history. He also loved photography, and leaves behind a large collection of photos that tell stories of his travels and enjoyment of the world.

He also had a robust love of food that eventually centered around spicy Indian and Thai foods, really good hummus (especially from the Damascus Grill in Littleton, Colorado), charcuterie, crusty rye breads, Portuguese wines, strong espresso, and Haagen Dazs ice cream. And sugar cookies. (Yes, he also ate plenty of vegetables.) He raised his daughters to eat at Indian, Vietnamese, Ethiopian and other types of restaurants that definitely did not offer grilled cheese sandwiches.

Geoff leaves behind two daughters and a grandson who all share his wit, writing talent, love of music, and sweet tooth.

Thank you for stopping by to read a bit about and remember Geoff Wheeler. Please leave a note!