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POPULAR POLK MUSIC TODAY, SPRING 1991

Goodbye, David . . .
and Thank You

I want to thank you, David, for being the best teacher I ever had - in your years of health as well as your years of illness.

In your years of health you became the best friend I ever had and taught me the real meaning of true friendship's love. You helped me discover creativity I never thought I had. You helped me develop an increased awareness of myself and my inner core. You gave me self-confidence beyond my wildest dreams. And you helped me along my path of spiritual growth and through that brought me closer to God.

In your years of  illness you gave me courage, strength, stamina and increased faith, trust and love in God. You set an example for me which I will carry with me for the rest of my life and, hopefully, be able to pass on to others: You never complained; you always remained positive and cheerful; you were always thankful for anything that anyone did for you: you always came up with another strategy and right to the end were creative and innovative as to how you could help yourself and others around you; and you constantly thanked God for all your blessings.

I miss you, David, but I'm thankful that you have been released from a body that no longer served you. I feel your presence around me constantly - especially on the farm and with the horses that you loved and admired so much. I know I haven't lost you. I've merely gained the most incredible guardian angel a person could have. Thank you, David, for coming into my life!

- lngrid Shaw

RICK AND INGRID SHAW -TRUE FRIENDS INDEED

By: Allan Shaw

Throughout the course of Dave's Illness, I've made frequent reference to Rick and Ingrid Shaw and all that they have done for Dave. But being as close to the situation as I was, it occurred to me that perhaps I was taking too much for granted and assuming that all of you know more than you really do about who they are and what all they have done. This seems an appropriate time for me to tell you a bit more about them and publicly express to them the thanks they so richly deserve from all of us who cared so much for Dave.

First the mundane. Rick and I are not related, at least not as far as either of us has been able to trace our ancestry. Our sharing a last name is strictly coincidental and, although we sometimes refer to each other as 'cousins', it's strictly in jest. I'd be proud were it for real though.

Rick and his brother Ron are the Shaw Brothers, a popular New England based folk act, who have been touring, performing and recording under that name since the early seventies when they left the Hillside Singers, the group that had the mega-hit, "I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing," that later became known as the "Coca-Cola Song." Prior to that they were the nucleus of the Brandywine Singers, a widely traveled and popular act of the folk era.

Rick's wife, Ingrid, is a noted equestrian rider, and under her maiden name Gsottschneider is the "star" of the WORKOUT FOR EQUESTRIANS video which she and Dave produced together. She and Rick have been married for nearly fifteen years and own and live on the Melody Pond Farm near Portsmouth, New Hampshire where Ingrid keeps, trains and rides thoroughbred horses.

Although Rick and Ron had known Dave for many years, it was only a casual acquaintance until Dave moved to New England in the mid-eighties to re-enter the music business. Rick and Ron were among the first performers he worked with, beginning with the "All Along The Merrimac" tour that Dave, the Shaw Brothers and the White Mountain Singers put together and performed on. The ALL ALONG THE MERRIMAC cassette album featuring those three acts was originally produced for that tour.

In the course of their work together, Dave happened to visit Melody Pond Farm and fell in love with it at first sight. As luck would have it, the apartment over one of the barns on the farm had recently become vacant, Dave's lease on his apartment was up, and the Shaws were happy to have a new tenant.

During the time Dave lived at Melody Pond Farm, and before the cancer struck him, Dave and the Shaws became "family" to each other. Having been twice divorced and his three children grown and scattered far and wide, Dave had no other family close by and, with so many interests in common, it was little wonder they became so close. Dave also developed a love for Ingrid's horses and spent many hours with them, admiring their beauty and grace as they ran across the fields.

In retrospect, it appears to have been divine intervention that took Dave to the Shaws, for when he came down with cancer they were there to love and help him as only someone with a true measure of devotion could have done.

Some of the things Rick and Ingrid did for him during the last two years of his life have been noted here and elsewhere from time to time, but nothing that was or could be said adequately describes it all. Suffice it to say that, when an illustration of true love and devotion is needed, nothing else could better be used than that given by Rick and Ingrid to Dave.

Certainly the feeling was mutual. Although Dave publicly expressed his love for the Shaws and his appreciation for all they were doing for him, he too found that words were insufficient. In his open letter, which is reproduced elsewhere in this section,. Dave expressed his thanks, not only to the Shaws, but to everyone else who helped him. In so doing, he also touched on another of his philosophies of life and suggested a way that all of us could accept his thanks. He said, "So many folks have done so much for me in my time of trouble that I'm frankly overwhelmed trying to reply with the measure of concern that my emotions are giving me. It must be the Libra thing: I never can get a present or compliment or anything nice at all from people without figuring out how I can reciprocate their generosity - but in this situation, I've definitely reached a point where mere words are going to have to try to fill the gap. Maybe none of us can repay the other exactly as wished; I think what actually happens is that we pass the goodwill along the line as best we can, kind of like a bucket in a fire brigade. Love is not to be possessed but to be kept moving at a brisk clip.

So, Rick and Ingrid, thanks for being there in that bucket brigade to pass along to Dave so much of what the rest of us were feeling. We, like Dave, feel that words are inadequate. but have little else to offer except our love, which we pass along to you.

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