[78-L] Fred Crosier, RIP

[Ron L'Herault]

I learned last evening that Fred Crosier, North Adams, MA, had passed away
at age 104.  Thanks to and accompanying Kirk Bauer, I met and talked with
Fred last spring.   Fred Crosier was a member of the Drury High School band
that in 1924 made a monumental trip to New York City.  While some of the
band toured the SS Leviathan, largest passenger ship in the world, a much
smaller contingent recorded an Edison Diamond Disc, 300 of which were
pressed.   The entire band gave live concerts and broadcast over two radio
stations during the three day trip. They were feted by the mayor of NY,
quite an achievement for what was then the largest high school band in the
country, probably even greater than when Sousa conducted the band a year
earlier.   Although Fred could not recall for sure if he'd been part of the
recording ensemble, he noted that he held the first clarinet chair so it is
quite likely that he was there and so we may have lost not only the last
surviving member of that historic Drury High School Band but also probably
the last person to record acoustically for Edison.

With sadness,

Ron L'Herault