I am sad to announce the passing of a musical icon, John Arpin.
Some may remember John as the featured performer at the AMICA
Convention in Sandusky, Ohio.  John also recorded "St. Louis Blues"
as an Ampico recording, available through BluesTone Music Rolls.
He was one of the most talented piano players of our time and a dear
personal friend.  Here is the message I received --

"Dear Ken, yes, John died on November 8th.  He had a rare intestinal
cancer and started to get ill in the summer, but mainly the fall --
loss of weight, no appetite and had difficulty building nutrition.

He had a peaceful death, very natural, and died at home.  And, I had
set up a blog at the time to assist in the communications which I have
enclosed for you.

We are all very sad.  He lived life until the end and wasn't ill until
this year (summer), really; just did a huge concert tour in Hungary
this past spring.

If you Google on his name you can get many of the articles: National
Post, Toronto Star and a nice one also in Globe and Mail.  We will all
miss him... he was 70.

The blog address is  http://johnandmaryjane.blogspot.com/

Regards,
Mary Jane, John's wife."

Regards of the season to all --
Ken Vinen, Aylmer, Ontario, Canada