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Edward Sambell, Jan. 5, 1923 - Jan. 10, 2018

  • 1.  Edward Sambell, Jan. 5, 1923 - Jan. 10, 2018

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 01-10-2018 21:55
    Ted Sambell was hospitalized with pneumonia a month ago. They tried to treat it, without success, and then moved him to palliative care.

    He had a good birthday celebration on Jan. 5, but worsened after that, and died today. He loved phone conversations with me and with Chris Gregg as long as he was able to talk, though they had to be short. Chris Gregg got him to write his memoirs, which he started at age 90, and he finished them! He wrote 80,000 words! Several of us have been preparing them for publication.

    Ted has always been there for me, and I treasure all that we shared through the years. I was extremely lucky that he had such a long life, and that his mind and memory remained so sharp till the very end.

    If those who are on non-Guild piano lists could spread the word, that would be welcome. I just spoke with his daughter Jessica, and the family is planning to hold a memorial piano concert in July.

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    Susan Kline
    Philomath, Oregon
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  • 2.  RE: Edward Sambell, Jan. 5, 1923 - Jan. 10, 2018

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 01-10-2018 22:07
    I met Ted in 1992 while he was the technician in residence at the Banff Center for the arts. When I got home to New York I told my colleagues that the old cliche about an old man on a mountaintop who knows the secret to life was true and that I had just met him. God speed Ted. We'll not see your like again.

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    Karl Roeder
    Pompano Beach FL
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  • 3.  RE: Edward Sambell, Jan. 5, 1923 - Jan. 10, 2018

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 01-11-2018 12:08
    I am still learning from him.  He was a sage and we were so privileged to have him in our lives.

    ------------------------------
    Christopher Gregg
    Calgary AB
    403-226-1019
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  • 4.  RE: Edward Sambell, Jan. 5, 1923 - Jan. 10, 2018

    Posted 01-10-2018 22:09
    Hi, Susan,

    Thank you for letting us know about this awful turn.

    Among the many other things that made him such a marvelous technician
    and person to know were his innate humility, his gentle demeanor, and,
    most of all, his humanity.

    While these are very sad tidings, he does live on through people like
    yourself, for whom he was so dedicated a teacher, mentor, and friend.

    Kind regards.

    Horace

    On 1/10/2018 6:54 PM, Susan Kline via Piano Technicians Guild wrote:
    > Please do not forward this message due to Auto Login.
    >
    > Ted Sambell was hospitalized with pneumonia a month ago. They tried to treat it, without success, and then moved him to palliative care.
    >
    > He had a good birthday celebration on Jan. 5, but worsened after that, and died today. He loved phone conversations with me and with Chris Gregg as long as he was able to talk, though they had to be short. Chris Gregg got him to write his memoirs, which he started at age 90, and he finished them! He wrote 80,000 words! Several of us have been preparing them for publication.
    >
    > Ted has always been there for me, and I treasure all that we shared through the years. I was extremely lucky that he had such a long life, and that his mind and memory remained so sharp till the very end.
    >
    > If those who are on non-Guild piano lists could spread the word, that would be welcome. I just spoke with his daughter Jessica, and the family is planning to hold a memorial piano concert in July.
    >
    > ------------------------------
    > Susan Kline
    > Philomath, Oregon
    > ------------------------------
    >
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  • 5.  RE: Edward Sambell, Jan. 5, 1923 - Jan. 10, 2018

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 01-10-2018 23:42
    That is very sad news Susan.

    I was able to talk to Ted about a week ago when I saw Fred's post. We only talked for about 5 minutes or so because his voice was very weak.  

    A great loss to our organization. I will never forget him.

    Paul.

    ------------------------------
    Paul Brown, RPT
    President
    Piano Technicians Guild
    Vancouver, BC Canada
    Email: pres@ptg.org
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  • 6.  RE: Edward Sambell, Jan. 5, 1923 - Jan. 10, 2018

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 01-11-2018 00:05
    Ted really loved the phone calls as long as he was able to talk. He kept telling his daughter that he wanted to chat with me again. It was somewhat hard to get through to his room, and he was asleep a lot. A nurse had to set up a call for him.

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    Susan Kline
    Philomath, Oregon
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  • 7.  RE: Edward Sambell, Jan. 5, 1923 - Jan. 10, 2018

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 01-11-2018 07:15
    What a loss! Ted was a gentle soul. A kind, helpful, lovely man who will be greatly missed. I look forward to reading his memoirs when they are published. I'm so glad you encouraged him to write them down.
    Thank you for sharing this sad news.
    Go with God, dear Ted!




  • 8.  RE: Edward Sambell, Jan. 5, 1923 - Jan. 10, 2018

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 01-11-2018 07:19

    Ted was such a kind and generous man and great mentor to so many of us. He will be sorely missed. God speed Ted.






  • 9.  RE: Edward Sambell, Jan. 5, 1923 - Jan. 10, 2018

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 01-11-2018 08:06
    Ted really was one of the greats of our field: Brilliant, inventive, influential, generous and humble. A rare combination indeed. He will be sorely missed.

    So good that you are working on his memoirs. Did anyone happen to capture any video of Ted talking about himself, his times, the industry, etc.? Some other late and great techs had video tributes made by those close to them, Wendell Eaton and Norm Neblett, to name two that immediately come to mind. If such footage exists, now would be a good time to assemble it (if that has not been done already). And if there is no footage of him, there could always be a remembrance video compiled featuring those who knew him.

    To anyone who has had a mentor or colleague who meant something special to them, please consider making a video remembrance of them (and all the better to start while they are still with us!).

    Thanks,

    Alan 


    ------------------------------
    Alan Eder, RPT
    Herb Alpert School of Music
    California Institute of the Arts
    Valencia, CA
    661.904.6483
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  • 10.  RE: Edward Sambell, Jan. 5, 1923 - Jan. 10, 2018

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 01-11-2018 13:40
    Hello, Alan

    The PTG has some footage of him discussing his past, which can be found on YouTube, along with his receiving the Golden Hammer award, which meant so much to him.

    Ted made many video recordings. Instead of carrying a still camera (which is my habit), Ted would have a video camera. He left behind a lot of video material, in some disorder and in several formats. None of this will be discarded, though it may take some time to bring them to a usable condition.

    Since I attended his course, and visited him several times in Banff, I have been able to provide some photos for his memoirs from the times he was talking about.

    I'm attaching a few photos of Ted. The oldest is from 1944, when he was in the rescue service, digging out bombed buildings. It was provided by his daughter. I'm including one from 1979, with Melba Bingeman, a classmate in the course. The others are from Banff during the late 1990's.

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    Susan Kline
    Philomath, Oregon
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  • 11.  RE: Edward Sambell, Jan. 5, 1923 - Jan. 10, 2018

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 01-11-2018 17:57

    This reminds me of NAMM's Dan Del Fiorentino.  He videotapes

    people from all segments of our trade, speaking about their careers

    and experiences.  I highly recommend him as a phenomenal resource.

    He couldn't possibly be a nicer person, and he loves our industry, and

    works for NAMM to document it. 

    Going further for our PTG use would be great as well.  Dan's work

    could be a good guide as to how to create a library of our members'

    histories.  It really would be nice to have this, on top of the print

    materials we already have.

    Ruth Zeiner






  • 12.  RE: Edward Sambell, Jan. 5, 1923 - Jan. 10, 2018

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 01-11-2018 19:53
    There are a couple video interviews of Ted, by NAMM, on the Foundation web site. http://my.ptg.org/foundation/archives/interviews37

    ------------------------------
    Fred Sturm
    University of New Mexico
    fssturm@unm.edu
    http://fredsturm.net
    http://www.artoftuning.com
    "We either make ourselves happy or miserable. The amount of work is the same." - Carlos Casteneda
    ------------------------------



  • 13.  RE: Edward Sambell, Jan. 5, 1923 - Jan. 10, 2018

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 01-11-2018 19:55
    To be more precise, there are two parts of an interview of Ted, by John Parham, after his Golden Hammer, and an additional one by NAMM. Scroll down for the link to the NAMM interview.

    ------------------------------
    Fred Sturm
    University of New Mexico
    fssturm@unm.edu
    http://fredsturm.net
    http://www.artoftuning.com
    "We either make ourselves happy or miserable. The amount of work is the same." - Carlos Casteneda
    ------------------------------



  • 14.  RE: Edward Sambell, Jan. 5, 1923 - Jan. 10, 2018

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 01-14-2018 13:03
    Ted's daughter Jessica has prepared an online obituary.

    https://basicfunerals.ca/obituaries/edward-george-sambell/4734/

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    Susan Kline
    Philomath, Oregon
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