I, when I walk into my basement, feel like 'what a lucky guy.' My wife, OTOH, goes 'OMG!' and mostly won't even come down here. 

The concern I have is finding the spot where 'she gets the most value' and 'the recordings, etc. end up in the right places' meet - most dealers have personal financial interests, and the moving 'would not be a quick, casual job.'  I've suggested more than once that she 'hire someone to open a temporary store' as the best way to liquidate, but she doesn't display much enthusiasm, despite the quite profitable nature of that idea. One friend could be interested in some, but has his own space issues of the same nature. As a retired college faculty member, I wouldn't trust much of any school to 'use them appropriately.'

I've also told her that 'if Koester is still around when that time comes, he'd probably be interested.'

And in NO way is that a dis; only spoke to him once, but 'have been appreciating his efforts in preserving American music for over 45 years.'

Gene




--------------------------------------------
On Tue, 12/3/13, Tom Fine <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

 Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] steven barr
 To: [log in to unmask]
 Date: Tuesday, December 3, 2013, 8:03 AM
 
 One lesson that can be learned is
 that we who collect should explore, while we are healthy,
 vital and with full faculties, who might want to inherit our
 collections. Is there an institution or archive we trust,
 and is interested? Another collector? Would we like to
 pre-arrange an auction with an expert in the topic areas
 where we focus our collection? Don't assume spouses or
 children or friends know or care about your collection,
 unless you have included them in it and they have expressed
 interest.
 
 Having inherited a few collections of records and vintage
 audio gear, I will say that it is never an easy process
 because of the bulk, logistics, storage and other issues.
 There is always expense and time-burden put on the person
 taking over the collection, so make sure that person wants
 the collection enough to put in the time and put up the
 money. In my case, it helped very much in the cases where
 the collection was well-documented. It also helped that two
 of the collections had been introduced to me gradually, with
 detailed explaination from the original owners. In fact I
 treasure those times, with people I respected and cared for
 explaining something they loved and about which they knew a
 great deal, more than I treasure the actual items.
 
 In the other cases, it was "hey I know you like this kind of
 stuff and we need to clean out XX's house so we can sell it,
 if you'll come and take it away you can have it." In those
 cases, I was much more likely to sell off pieces in order to
 cover my logistics and storage expenses, very soon after
 taking possession. I do not regret any of those sales,
 because some very nice items passed into hands that
 appreciate and use them today. In these cases, I have passed
 back all other sales proceeds to the people generous enough
 to call me rather than put stuff in the dumpster or turn it
 over to an estate-sale hack to get pennies on the dollar of
 the true values. Net-net, I ended up keeping fewer items
 from these collections, but it's nice to have those things.
 
 The final case I've been involved in was my friend, 10 years
 my junior, who died suddenly earlier this year. His father
 needed help assessing his house-full of audio gear, tapes
 and records, and finding buyers for what had monetary value
 and takers for the rest. We managed to get 90% of it sold
 and given away, and the rest really was dumpster junk. I
 bought some equipment items, which I am happy to have, and
 his father gave me his records and tapes, which I am very
 pleased to have and will remind me of my good friend gone
 too soon.
 
 The point of this is, if you care about what happens to your
 collection when you're gone, you need to be proactive. The
 best time to be proactive is when you have the energy and
 the presence of mind to do it, ie not at the very end. You
 can't take it with you, and you must assume that no one else
 values it and nothing good will happen to it unless you make
 preparations and enlist allies who will outlive you.
 
 -- Tom Fine
 
 ----- Original Message ----- From: "eugene hayhoe" <[log in to unmask]>
 To: <[log in to unmask]>
 Sent: Tuesday, December 03, 2013 7:26 AM
 Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] steven barr
 
 
 > All that work collecting and organizing for naught? A
 shame. Hope they ended up with 'someone who appreciates what
 they have.'
 > 
 > 
 > 
 > --------------------------------------------
 > On Mon, 12/2/13, Dave Burnham <[log in to unmask]>
 wrote:
 > 
 > Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] steven barr
 > To: [log in to unmask]
 > Date: Monday, December 2, 2013, 9:00 PM
 > 
 > David Lennick is your best bet,
 > however I'm not sure he has the info either. I don't
 think
 > there is an e-mail address because the reason he
 stopped
 > posting on 78L was because he didn't have a computer.
 He may
 > well be out of reach. I understand his records have
 been
 > liquidated to cover debts owing.
 > 
 > db
 > 
 > Sent from my iPhone
 > 
 > > On Dec 2, 2013, at 8:43 PM, David Seubert <[log in to unmask]>
 > wrote:
 > >
 > > Anybody heard from Steve Barr lately and have a
 current
 > contact email? The
 > > email I have for him bounces.
 > >
 > >
 > >
 > > Thanks,
 > >
 > > David
 > >
 > >
 > >
 > >
 > 
 > 
 >