Richard Blaustein and The thistle and the brier

The BIB learns with regret of the death of Richard Blaustein, professor emeritus of East Tennessee State University (ETSU), scholar, old-time fiddler and banjo player, and director of ETSU's Center for Appalachian Studies and Services. An obituary by Jack Tottle is on Bluegrass Today, which includes an audio recording of Dr Blaustein (with friends) singing the old-timey song 'Boozy Creek'.

His prolific scholarly output includes a book specially likely to interest readers this side of the Atlantic: The thistle and the brier: historical links and cultural parallels between Scotland and Appalachia, published by McFarland Press at $29.95. A preview can be seen here.