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Ok, I got another one wrong, but it’s good news this time: Eddie is still here.

However, what’s the story with Pat Marr? He (and Mario) stayed at my place for one of my concerts. I even got him interested in kayaking. He is indeed one of the nicest folks you could meet, and he was coordinating forum member get-togethers.


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Regarding Mac. I don't know if he is still with us, but I do know he was in 2020. I had reached out in early Jamuary 2020 to his brother, Marshall McDonald, to see what was going on (Marshall is a professional jazz sax player out of New York, although he said gigs were very hard to come by.. My initial exchange with him went as follows:

Quote
Me (01/07/2020): Greetings! My name is John Ford and you don't know me from Adam. I am a longtime participant in the PGMusic Band-in-a-Box online forum for which your brother Clark (who went by the moniker "Mac" many years ago), just kind of disappeared. There have been folks (including myself) worried about him for many years now. I've tried calling the number at which I previously spoke with him, but it just rings . I remember him posting about his brother Marshall and your accomplishments, so I am reaching out on your web site. While I never met him in person, I spoke with him on the phone several times and we had multiple interchanges about music on the forum and on the phone. Myself, and others, would just like to know he's alright, still playing keyboards and trumpet (hopefully), and doing what he loves. He was a treasure of knowledge on the forum, and we have long been concerned about him. I remember he went through a bout of some health issues. I look forward to hearing from you.

Marshall (01/07/2020): Thanks for reaching out, I remember well his work at BIAB and i still use the program to practice although I have not updated in some time! Music is a challenging career. To say the least and has gotten even worse. Yes Actually, he did go through some very serious health issues, maybe we will tell you about them but he is still with us and his brilliant mind, maybe getting older, is still brilliant. Since he sometimes remains private I will forward your email onto him and I hope he reaches out to you. Let me know how it goes.

Me (01/08/2020 - my birthday, hey!): Thank you for your response, Marshall. Mac may be gone from the BIAB forum, but not forgotten. I am so glad he is still with us. His knowledge of things musical and electronic and, well most things, have been helpful to me (and many others). I remember he provided me some great feedback on a song I posted that I took to heart. I do hope I hear from him. There are folks that still miss his wit and insight.

Marshall (01/17/2020): Did you hear from him?

Me (01/17/2020): Unfortunately, not yet. Thank you so much for the follow up. But I'm an optimist. I will tell you there are lots of folks with fond memories of him and would love to hear from him, even just to drop in and say "Hi".And this isn't just an online thing. In the past several years, a lot of folks on the forum have actually met and socialized in person, all around the love for music. I keep my hopes alive.

Me (01/23/2020): Have not heard from your brother, yet, but just glad he's still kicking and hopefully doing what he loves.

Marshall (01/23/2020): He sticks to himself a lot these days. He got your message.

After that, we shared emails back and forth about life, music, and BIAB over the next several months. I never did hear from Mac, he last logged in to the forum on 04/08/14 at 09:50 AM.


John

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Originally Posted by jford
Regarding Mac. I don't know if he is still with us, but I do know he was in 2020. I had reached out in early Jamuary 2020 to his brother, Marshall McDonald, to see what was going on (Marshall is a professional jazz sax player out of New York, although he said gigs were very hard to come by..
According to his brother, Marshall, Mac has passed away.
Please see this post from Mac's brother.


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I miss Mac
Half my PM box is Mac
Guess I'm weird like that, but we had a few things other than BiaB we both worked on, and I keep his memory
He was a special guy


I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome
Make your sound your own!
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Thanks for the update, I missed that post. Mac and I had spoken several times on the phone before he left the forum.


John

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There are many theories of what happens after you die. Heaven, Happy Hunting Grounds, Nothing, Reincarnation, and so on.

The only thing I know for sure is when you go, there are people left behind that will miss you.

I've met a lot of people since I started using BiaB on the Atari computer. I miss quite a few of them.

When I started targeting the retirement market for gigging in 1990, a lot of our regular fans have left the audience, and I dearly miss a lot of them, too.

Some day I'll join them, and I might just find out what happens when you die, unless the nothing people are correct.


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Glad some are still here, I still miss Mac. Finally, and not that it makes a rat's patoot, color me here. and now not.

Good luck, peace
Larry


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Just remembered another two that have been gone for a while as well, Ian Frazer and John Conley, Ian went first I believe, John a few years later. Both Canadians.

Ian was a good song writer, I was always amazed how John's posts could sort of morph into anything, such was his ability to cover such wide and varied topics all in one post.

Anyone heard of John (Silvertones)

Last edited by musiclover; 04/13/26 11:24 AM.

Musiclover

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When you check out, it's kinda hard to post about it. If someone isn't staying in touch with you, it can be months or even years before someone thinks and says....hey, where did old so and so get off too? By then, you've been pushing up daisys for a few years.


You can find my music at:
www.herbhartley.com
Add nothing that adds nothing to the music.
You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both.

The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
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Silvertones had shared on these forums that he was unwell, suffering from the dreaded 'C'. He hasn't been online since August 2020, however, I don't know any more than that.


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All this talk about checking out and death inspired me to develop another quote for my list.

Rather than dwelling on the days and years you have been allocated, consider spicing your recipe with growth and then savor the result with others.
--BassThumper

Ok, who do I contact for my Nobel Prize in literature? laugh


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