Vibe, Rhythm Music, and Jazz Times music journalist, radio personality, and sound lover Tom Turrell passed away late last month. Here Evelyn McDonnell's new (post-Miami Herald) publication, MOLI, runs an appreciation of his life, written by the great Vivien Goldman. Click the title for the full article as I only reposted the first page:
The DJ Who Roared: Tom Terrell
By Vivien Goldman/Special to MOLIRemembrance of a writer, photographer, and friend
Tom Terrell, July 16, 1950, to November 29, 2007
It is with great sadness - oh, yeah, right, just ignore that regular intro. It is with a big ol' hole in my soul that I report the passing of writer, photographer, and inspired music aficionado Tom Terrell, a man who was a true soul brother to me and very many others around the whole musical world. He died this morning of prostate cancer.
"May we rejoice and remember with great joy Tom's life,'' says Me'Shell Ndegeocello, one of the many musicians Terrell met in his life travels. "So many are grateful for what he's shared. And may we all be so blessed as he seemed to be and hopefully give of ourselves, to aid in other achievements and ideas."
An ambivalent New Jerseyite and proud graduate of Washington's Howard University, Lil' Tommy Tee (that was his DJ handle back in his 1980s radio heyday, on his DC show Cafe C'est Wha) was a most unusual and gifted funny guy who always got the party started, professionally, socially, and personally.
