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It is with great sadness that I tell you that Citizen Kafka (a.k.a. Richie Shulberg) passed away suddenly at home on Saturday. He was 61. For those who are not familiar with Kafka's amazing body of work, he was a long-time WBAI (99.5FM Pacifica Radio, NYC) producer who created some of the funniest radio comedy bits in history on the Citizen Kafka Radio Hour with his partners in crime Kenny Kosek (Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band, amongst many others), and actor John Goodman (just before his rise to fame). He founded and led the Wretched Refuse String Band, which featured Kosek, Andy Statman, and many other famed bluegrass players amongst its alumni, as well as the harder-edged electric Citizen Kafka Band. He was also an avid collector of just about everything from rare 78's to dried armadillos and laboratory glassware (I once had the distinct privilege of helping him to reorganize his storage area when it lived in a double-wide tenement basement on W. 18th St. - before the collection became so large that it had to move to an actual warehouse). On both WBAI and WFMU (with co-producer Pat Conte), he produced a brilliant program called Secret Museum of the Air, featuring many rare and obscure recordings from the cylinder era, acoustic recordings, early ethnic music releases, and many other odd audio collectors items. He was a creative force, and more importantly, a complete mensch in every sense of the word. Always giving of his time, knowledge, and basic human friendship - he will be sorely missed... Services are today (Monday) at 1:00pm at the I. J. Morris Funeral Home, 1895 Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn. dave nolan 92nd Street Y nyc Dave Nolan Audio 534 E. 11th St. #14 New York NY 10009-4623 (212) 614-0708 (917) 691-9519 e-mail to: [log in to unmask]