I was very saddened to hear that Thomas Grace has passed away.
I just cannot believe it. He lived very close to me, and I thought
he would be around at least as long as me.
We used to talk for hours about Welte orchestrions. I drafted plans
for the case of his dream Welte, which he was slowly building. He
had a great knowledge of Welte orchestrions. We shared information,
and reprints. He affected me the most through music by producing and
distributing the "Welte Orchestrions" CD that is a beautiful recording
of the Styles 5 and 6.
In the last few years he turned his attention to selling collectable
merchandise of Disneyland and other related reproductions and recordings.
He had some beautiful quality reproductions of Haunted Mansion and
Pirates of the Caribbean carvings and castings. I used to see him with
his booth set up at local events like "Haunt X" in Los Angeles.
He was a man of my heart in interests and I will truly miss him.
Brian Smith
Calimesa, California
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