Those of you who knew Colin Ross' wife, Ray, and haven't so far heard from other singing or social forums, will be saddened to learn of her death yesterday. She had been ill for some time and finally succumbed to several conditions.
Messages are flooding on to various lists and boards and there is an obit on the Guardian website http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/sep/01/ray-fisher-obituary?INTCMP=SRCH Colin is coping as well as can be expected and has family with him, but as he is himself not totally well, please no phone calls to the family home, they simply cannot deal with the volume of calls. Email messages will be received (though probably not answered, again due to volume) and cards are fine. He is very grateful for the messages received so far and the support and appreciation of the piping community. Ray was of course an internationally respected traditional singer with an extensive family, and singing will play a large part in the farewell ceremony. It is at 2.15 pm on Monday 12 September at Whitley Bay. Pipers have been requested: please email me for more details if you are likely to come, so I know how big a turnout of players to expect. There is a social event afterwards as well. Julia To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
