heartbreaking news

archival forum of past Tape Op Conferences

Moderator: TapeOpCraig

Locked
electrical
audio school
Posts: 5
Joined: Sun Jul 09, 2006 3:52 pm
Location: Chicago, Italia
Contact:

heartbreaking news

Post by electrical » Sun Jul 09, 2006 3:59 pm

Each year at the Tape Op conference, Electrical Audio hosts a free poker tournament. The winner of the tournament gets a free day in the studio including tape and other necessities. This year, another studio also donated a day, making the prize worth several thousand dollars. Naturally, a free chance to have a couple of sessions in nice studios attracted a lot of attention from the attendees, all of whom love a bargain. The early favorite and eventual winner of this year's tournament was a fellow named Samuel Zawada, who accumulated an enormous chip lead over the course of the weekend. In addition to attending the conference, he and his fianc?e Valerie McGregor were busy getting ready to travel back to Colorado for their upcoming wedding.

On July 3, while driving back to Colorado, the pickup the couple were riding in rolled over in New Mexico, killing both of them. On Saturday, July 8, the date of their planned wedding, the couple's families gathered at the church in Lafayette, Colorado, for a memorial service instead.

I am grateful that I had the pleasure of meeting Samuel, and that we spent many fine hours playing cards and talking about our common interests, music and recording. In particular, he was a fan of Zao, a band whose most recent album I had worked on, and he was happy to learn that they were all swell fellows. Samuel impressed me immediately as a smart and enthusiastic guy, a good poker player and a pleasure to be around. I had been looking forward to his session at our studio and getting to know him better, and news of his death came as a shock. I did not get to meet Valerie, but Sam spoke fondly of her, and I'm sure she was as terrific as he said.

Everyone at Electrical Audio would like to extend our sympathy to the families of Samuel and Valerie, in the grip of such a terrible tragedy. Our hearts break for them.
Best,

-steve albini
Electrical Audio
sa at electrical dot com
www dot electrical dot com

User avatar
hauser gabone
gettin' sounds
Posts: 135
Joined: Tue Nov 09, 2004 9:39 pm
Location: south jersey

Post by hauser gabone » Sun Jul 09, 2006 4:04 pm

horrible. my condolences to any friends/family that may read this board
i'm sitting here in a moustache cause it needs to recharge

Groovedog
audio school graduate
Posts: 12
Joined: Mon Aug 30, 2004 6:53 pm

Post by Groovedog » Sun Jul 09, 2006 6:32 pm

That is just terrible, my heart goes out to their family and friends

John Jeffers
buyin' a studio
Posts: 928
Joined: Sat Jun 07, 2003 1:16 pm
Location: Denver, CO
Contact:

Post by John Jeffers » Sun Jul 09, 2006 8:23 pm

I sat next to Samuel at "Larry's Late Show" during this year's TapeOpCon. I had never met him before, and it was quite a coincidence to discover that we were both from Denver. We exchanged email addresses and planned to talk more in the future.

I never did get the chance to know Samuel very well, but even in the short time I talked to him, he spoke lovingly of his fiance and his future plans with her. He also mentioned that he was cleaning up at the poker table, and was very much enjoying the opportunity to play poker with Steve.

We have a local music site here called the Denver Message Board that also had a short thread dedicated to Samuel and his fiance. Click here.

cgarges
zen recordist
Posts: 10890
Joined: Mon Jun 16, 2003 1:26 am
Location: Charlotte, NC
Contact:

Post by cgarges » Mon Jul 10, 2006 7:21 am

That is sad, sad news.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

User avatar
Russian Recording
re-cappin' neve
Posts: 752
Joined: Wed May 21, 2003 2:28 pm
Location: Bloomington, IN
Contact:

Post by Russian Recording » Mon Jul 10, 2006 7:27 am

this is indeed very sad.
my condolences.

User avatar
wayne kerr
ears didn't survive the freeze
Posts: 3873
Joined: Thu May 08, 2003 10:11 am

Post by wayne kerr » Mon Jul 10, 2006 9:36 am

What a sad story. Rest in peace Samuel and Valerie.
The Edge... there is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over.
-Hunter S. Thompson

TapeOpLarry
TapeOp Admin
TapeOp Admin
Posts: 1665
Joined: Thu May 01, 2003 11:50 am
Location: Portland, OR
Contact:

Post by TapeOpLarry » Tue Jul 11, 2006 7:20 pm

I'm super sad to hear of this. Thanks Steve for posting and your kind words. Tape Op Mag and TapeOpCon send their condolences to the family and friends.
Larry Crane, Editor/Founder Tape Op Magazine
please visit www.tapeop.com for contact information
(do not send private messages via this board!)
www.larry-crane.com

drumsound
zen recordist
Posts: 7474
Joined: Tue Jun 01, 2004 10:30 pm
Location: Bloomington IL
Contact:

Post by drumsound » Mon Jul 17, 2006 9:24 pm

This makes me so sad!

echo park
audio school
Posts: 6
Joined: Mon Jun 05, 2006 6:07 am

Post by echo park » Mon Jul 17, 2006 9:54 pm

but what a way to go! no doubt they were enjoying themselves for weeks on end. music... AZ/NM... poker with peers and heroes... tape op fun... i am saddened by our loss for what could have been, it seems they would have had great times ahead, too.


what could we do with that studio time to honor them?

TapeOpLarry
TapeOp Admin
TapeOp Admin
Posts: 1665
Joined: Thu May 01, 2003 11:50 am
Location: Portland, OR
Contact:

Post by TapeOpLarry » Tue Jul 18, 2006 4:39 pm

Maybe donate it to a local music school for kids or something? Or save it all up and double the prize for next year's poker game and make it a tribute game.
Larry Crane, Editor/Founder Tape Op Magazine
please visit www.tapeop.com for contact information
(do not send private messages via this board!)
www.larry-crane.com

User avatar
Mark Alan Miller
dead but not forgotten
Posts: 2097
Joined: Wed Apr 14, 2004 6:58 pm
Location: Western MA
Contact:

Post by Mark Alan Miller » Tue Jul 18, 2006 5:36 pm

Oh my. Truely tragic.
Beautiful words, Steve...
he took a duck in the face at two and hundred fifty knots.

http://www.radio-valkyrie.com/ao/aoindex.htm - download the new record (free is an option!) or get it on CD.

joel hamilton
zen recordist
Posts: 8876
Joined: Mon May 19, 2003 12:10 pm
Location: NYC/Brooklyn
Contact:

Post by joel hamilton » Mon Jul 31, 2006 7:09 am

TapeOpLarry wrote:Maybe donate it to a local music school for kids or something? Or save it all up and double the prize for next year's poker game and make it a tribute game.
Name the game after him. Every year it should be the memorial poker game.

That is incredibly sad. I am about to get married, and putting myself in that situation is absolutely heartbreaking,....

Sincerely,
-Joel

User avatar
JGriffin
zen recordist
Posts: 6739
Joined: Thu Jul 31, 2003 1:44 pm
Location: criticizing globally, offending locally
Contact:

Post by JGriffin » Mon Jul 31, 2006 8:16 am

joel hamilton wrote:
Name the game after him. Every year it should be the memorial poker game.
There's a good idea.


My condolences to the families.
"Jeweller, you've failed. Jeweller."

"Lots of people are nostalgic for analog. I suspect they're people who never had to work with it." ? Brian Eno

All the DWLB music is at http://dwlb.bandcamp.com/

Locked

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 3 guests