SYP Says

Alan Rimm-Kaufman, you'll be missed.

I got a very sad note this morning from George Michie, the Co-Founder and CEO of RKG, the search engine marketing firm that Alan Rimm Kaufman started several years ago. Alan died this past Saturday from Leukemia.

I met Alan a few years ago at a Shop.org conference. As a result of the meeting, subsequent conversations, and stellar references, I moved Musician's Friend's paid search business to RKG where they did (and still do) great work.

This is such terrible news for Alan's family and friends, but also a huge loss for the online marketing community. I'm posting this so that people who know him will know what happened, how much he will be missed, and celebrate his life.

Alan once interviewed Harry Joiner on the subject of hiring online marketing talent and he mentioned me. I remember how pleased I was, because I respected Alan so much.

RKG will, no doubt, continue to prosper, but Alan, you will be sorely missed.

His obituary is below.

http://www.legacy.com/DailyProgress/Obituaries.asp?Page=Notice&PersonID=130038546

Alan Philip Rimm-Kaufman, 41, of Charlottesville, died from Leukemia on Saturday, July 18, 2009.

Alan was born in 1968 in Boston, Massachusetts, to Essie and Norman Kaufman. After growing up in Newton, Massachusetts, Alan graduated with a degree in Applied Mathematics from Yale University in 1991 and a Ph.D. in Operations Research from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, in 1996.

Alan moved to Virginia in 1996, beginning with a job at Signet Bank in Richmond and then working as Vice President of Marketing at Crutchfield Corporation. Alan began his own company, the Rimm-Kaufman Group, in 2003 and served as President and CEO until his death. Alan held a national reputation in web marketing and he wrote and blogged prolifically about paid search and web marketing. Alan's company, the Rimm-Kaufman Group was named to the Inc. 500 Fastest Growing Private Companies in America, in 2008.

Alan also held an appointment as Visiting Professor in the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration and as Fellow at the Center for Management of Information Technology at the McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia.

Those who knew Alan well appreciated his wide range of interests and his energy and enthusiasm for life. Alan was a 14 year survivor of lymphoma, and this reality fueled his philosophy to live fast and fully. Alan loved to build. Every day brought new project opportunities and he crafted structures, sculptures and costumes from cardboard, plaster, wood, metal, legos, toothpicks, straws, paint, sticks, and cloth. Alan read constantly and his book choices included classic literature, spy novels, computer code manuals, business books, books about the web, and non-fiction "how-to" guides. When not building or reading, Alan spent hours in the kitchen, cooking for the family, trying new exotic fruits, preparing homemade foods like kim chee or pickles, and generating new hot sauce recipes. Alan held a deep affection for the woods, having spent thousands of hours hiking in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.

Alan loved family life, most likely because it gave him an excuse to play. He, his wife, and two children, called themselves the RK4s and created new family traditions together. Alan was a great dad, always telling stories and doing projects that would land on the border between creative and ridiculous. Alan aspired to give his children a true Jewish upbringing with Jewish ethics and sensibilities, and he left each child with a compass within to guide them in the years ahead. Alan offered his wife complete love and support during their 14 years of marriage. Alan will be remembered as a fantastic uncle, too. He often led packs of nieces and nephews in Thanksgiving plays, potato canon building, art with coconuts, storytelling, and sand dinosaur building. His family always appreciated his deep thinking mind-Alan was a great problem solver and a walking dictionary.

Alan is survived by his loving wife, Sara; his two children, Sam and Davida of Charlottesville; his mother, Essie Kaufman of Del Ray, Florida; as well as his sisters, Nina Weld of Greenwich, Connecticut, and Susan Kaufman-Una of Palmer, Washington.

Alan's father, Norman Lewis Kaufman, died in 2001. Alan was a loving son, brother, husband, cousin, uncle, nephew, and friend. His family and friends will miss him dearly.

The Rimm-Kaufman, Kaufman, and Rimm families are tremendously grateful for the many people who participated in Alan's medical care, especially Doctor Mike Williams of the University of Virginia Cancer Center.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Alan P. Rimm-Kaufman Legacy Fund at CBI Preschool, 501 East Jefferson Street, Charlottesville, VA, 22902.

We also ask that people consider a regular commitment to blood donation and/or join the national bone marrow registry (www.marrow.org).

A funeral service will be held for Alan at 11 a.m. Tuesday, July 21, 2009, at Hill and Wood Funeral Service, 201 North First Street, Charlottesville, Virginia. Burial at the Hebrew Cemetery on First Street Southeast will follow. Alan's family will receive friends from 10 until 11 a.m. at the funeral home.

Laurel Bowman

I am in shock, but I am going to write this anyway. Laurel Bowman, CEO of The Conversion Group, died yesterday after a brief illness. I only know what is in the obituary.

I first met Laurel several years ago. I hired her firm to do some web design work. Over the years, we saw each other from time to time. She had the best laugh and was a die-hard Red Sox fan. One of my best memories of her was when we went to a baseball game in Brooklyn together. She ribbed me about being a Yankees fan for *3 hours*. Only Laurel could have kept that up.

Rest in peace, Laurel. We will miss you.

N.B. If you were Laurel's friend on Facebook, you can post condolences and memories on her wall.

http://www.whittier-porter.com/Photos/Obits/Laurel_Bowman.htm 

Laurel Ann Bowman, 44, of Highland Avenue, Ipswich, partner of Mary Rich, died Monday,  January 26, 2009 in the Lahey Clinic, Burlington following her brief illness.

Born in Needham November 25, 1964, daughter of  Charles H. and Joan M. (McClellan) Bowman of Virginia Beach, VA, she was raised in Dennis and was a 1982 graduate of the Dennis Yarmouth High School and an English and Communication Major at Bridgewater State College.

Laurel was the founder and CEO of the Conversion Group, Inc., a digital marketing and development agency which she owned and operated to date. She also founded and was the Creative Director of Red 98 Interactive Agency.  Earlier in her career she was a Vice President, Creative Director at Ingalls Interactive,  starting her marketing career as a copywriter at Cabot  Advertising.

A musician, Laurel was a songwriter, lead vocalist, guitarist and drummer  in the Boston based bands The Proletariat  and The Lumen Band. She was a graduate of Improv Boston and was a member of the troupe The Garamondo Files. For three years she served as  a Board member with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project.

In addition to her partner of  thirteen years  and her parents, she is survived by a brother John M. Bowman and his wife Rachelle of Martinsville, IN; a nephew Sean Patrick Bowman, and  a niece Sierra Rachelle Bowman both of IN; three uncles, William McClellan of Chatham, John McClellan of Canton and John Bowman of S. Yarmouth and six cousins.

Family and friends are welcomed to visiting hours Friday January 30 from 5 to 8 pm at the Whittier-Porter Funeral Home, 6 High Street, Ipswich. Her funeral service will be private. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions in her name may be made to the Ipswich Humane Group, P.O. Box 873, Ipswich, MA 01938.

Yankee Stadium RIP

I always say I'm not a baseball fan, I'm a Yankees fan and as such, tonight's game will be one for the ages whether we win or lose.

The Yankees take the field today for the last time at The House that Ruth Built 85 years ago. I was lucky to experience several games at Yankee Stadium, including one against those pesky Red Sox (we won), and have memories of everything from beer in the nosebleeds to sitting behind home plate.

So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish.

David Foster Wallace dies at 46

I was shocked and saddened to hear about David Foster Wallace's apparent suicide at 46 last night. I am a huge fan of postmodern writing and this will sound really ridiculous, but I have been waiting 11 years for just the right time to break out my copy of Infinite Jest and give it my full attention.

For a fan's-eye view, go to The Howling Fantods!, an 11-year old site dedicated to Wallace's works. RIP, DFW. You will be missed.

Tim Russert Dies at 58 :(

Tim Russert, NBC News’ Washington bureau chief and moderator of the long-running political show, Meet the Press, died unexpectedly today from an apparent heart attack.

I have been watching "Meet the Press" for years and even had an affectionate nickname for Tim--"Big Head"--because he was really smart and, I have always suspected, had a huge brain. 

It's very sad--he was a brilliant political journalist who really seemed grounded in reality. He brought passion and dedication to his work, and clearly loved politics. So often the political pundits on TV are idiots, but he was different. I appreciated his enthusiasm and energy, but most of all, he seemed fair, logical, well-informed, and always prepared to ask the tough questions. Especially in this election year, it's a real shame he won't be part of the hullabaloo and get to see how it all turns out. We'll miss you, Tim! Sundays just won't be the same.

Andy Palacio R.I.P.

In a terrible twist of fate, Andy Palacio died on Saturday, January 19, 2008 just after having received numerous awards for his album, Watina. Here is the official obituary in the New York Times. I was stunned when I heard about this. What a tragedy. I had just learned about his wonderful music a month earlier and picked "Watina" as one of my 2007 Best Songs of the Week.

The full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/21/arts/music/21palacio.html?_r=1&ref=obituaries&oref=slogin

Andy Palacio, Who Saved Garifuna Music, Dies at 47

By JON PARELES

Published: January 21, 2008

Andy Palacio, a bandleader and songwriter who spearheaded a revival of the Garifuna music of Central America, died Saturday in his native Belize City, Belize. He was 47 and lived in San Ignacio, Belize.

Jack Vartoogian/FrontRowPhotos

The cause was respiratory failure after a stroke and heart attack, according to Jacob Edgar, president of his record company, Cumbancha.

In Belize, Mr. Palacio was nationally known as both a musician and an advocate for Garifuna culture. “Watina,” his album with the Garifuna Collective, was acclaimed as one of the best world music releases of 2007.

The Garifuna (pronounced ga-RI-foo-nah) are descendants of West African slaves who were shipwrecked in 1635 off the coast of what is now the island of St. Vincent and intermarried with local Arawak and Carib people. Garifuna villages arose on the coasts of Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala and Belize. There are now an estimated 250,000 Garifuna people worldwide, a minority culture under pressure from assimilation and coastal development.

“I decided to use music as a medium for cultural preservation,” Mr. Palacio said in an interview with NPR last year. “At least we’d be able to use the language in the songs and keep them alive.”

Mr. Palacio grew up in a Garifuna family in the coastal village of Barranco, Belize, and soaked up local and international music. He worked as a high school teacher, and on a visit to Nicaragua with a literacy project, he met an elderly man who was one of the last Garifuna speakers in Nicaragua. He resolved to preserve the language at home and in 1981 served as host of a Garifuna program on Radio Belize.

During the 1980s, Mr. Palacio used Garifuna rhythms in punta rock, a popular Caribbean dance music, and had Central American hits, including “Bikini Panty” and “Gimme Punta Rock.” In the mid-1990s, working with the producer Ivan Duran, Mr. Palacio made albums with musicians from Belize and Cuba, and in 1999 he appeared with older Garifuna musicians on the album “Paranda.” After various government jobs, he was named director of culture at the Belize Arts Council in 2003.

Meanwhile, Mr. Palacio and Mr. Duran worked to assemble the Garifuna Collective, which brought together multiple generations of Garifuna musicians for socially conscious songs. Mr. Palacio’s album with the collective, “Watina,” uses the Afro-Caribbean lilt of vintage Garifuna styles along with modern touches like an occasional electric guitar. The songs carry messages like: “Our ancestors fought to remain Garifuna/ Why must we be the ones to lose our culture?” It stimulated a rediscovery of Garifuna music among younger musicians in Central America.

The prime minister of Belize gave Mr. Palacio the Order of Meritorious Service in September 2007, and in November, Mr. Palacio was named a Unesco Artist for Peace. “I hope that our efforts will not only preserve Garifuna culture but also re-energize a generation,” he told NPR.

Mr. Palacio is survived by his mother, Cleofa Avilez; his brother, Oswald Lopez; his sister, Jacinta Palacio; his children, Kami, Uani, Nita, Tara, Kamou; and two granddaughters.

Stanislaw Lem & Ali Farke Toure R.I.P.

Two greats of music and literature recently passed away: Stainslaw Lem and Ali Farka Touré . Lem was a Polish science-fiction author known for his dry humor and versatility and Touré was a renowed blues singer and guitarist from Mali.

Many of Lem's books have not been translated into English. I was lucky enough to find a translation of THE STAR DIARIES a collection of satiric SF tales  starring Ijon Tichy, intrepid explorer and space hero, in a rundown bookstore in New Delhi back in 1992. From that point on, I was hooked. Lem's stories are philosophical, imaginative, absurd, and comic. One of his best known works, SOLARIS, was adapted into film twice--once by Russian director Andrei Tarkovksy in 1972 (try his movie STALKER) and much more recently by Steven Soderbergh starring George Clooney (don't bother watching this version--it turns the novel into a romance in space which it's not).

Lem is one of my all-time favorites. For more about him and his work, check out this Interview with Lem and Tribute to Lem by another fan .

Ali Farka Touré was often known as the "African John Lee Hooker" and his music bridged traditional Malian music with American blues. His style was hypnotic and he often sang in one of several African languages, including Fula. My favorite album of his is THE SOURCE although all of them are great. I'm not sure where I first heard about him, but I've been listening to Touré for over a decade and it's sad to know that there won't be any new music  of his to enjoy.

For more about Ali Farka Touré, check out this BBC Obituary and Bio at World Music Central.