Alan Douglas has passed away

ID: 387975
Alan Douglas has passed away 
17.Nov.15 13:37
34

John Kusching (USA)
Officer
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John Kusching

Our good friend Alan Douglas has passed away this week.  Alan was an antique radio historian and the author of various books covering the early radio years.  He also had a strong interest in test equipment, and authored a book on early test equipment.  But most importantly, Alan was a true gentleman and a friend.  He was always helping others and sharing information.  If you needed a part for your radio, he would not hesitate to send you the part if he had it. His kindness, patience and generosity knew no bounds. He has touched the lives of so many people in the antique radio field, myself included, and his passing is a great loss to all of us.  My condolences go out to all of his many freinds and his family.

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Alan 
17.Nov.15 15:20
34 from 4372

Gary Tempest (GB)
Articles: 56
Count of Thanks: 3

I agree with everything you have written John.  Alan and I exchanged e-mails over the years and I was another who benifited from parts he posted to me.  A very generous and talanted man who will be missed by all who are interested in old radios.

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We lost an outstanding member from the USA 
19.Nov.15 08:35
176 from 4372

Ernst Erb (CH)
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Ernst Erb

This is a sad moment and I miss that I could not spend more time with Alan. We met him twice in his home on our journey of nine weeks to the USA in Spring 2013 and I had asked if Joe Sousa could join us on our second visit, since we met Joe before.

Alan also collected some automatic music instruments and as this was my hobby of the 1960's he showed us his big automatic organ in action.

Alan Douglas was not only a great engineer but a very fine person. One could always depend on him when something was unclear or needed to be proven. I don't know any person who was not treated in a very gentle way by Alan. 

Alan Douglas wrote one of the finest books on radios: "Radio Manufacturers of the 1920's" which took three volumes full of very important and well researched material and data with many (b/w) photos from original source. See also volume 2 and volume 3 here in the literature finder.

He also wrote the book "Tube Testers and Classic Electronic Test Gear" which you can also find in our literature finder.

He gave us the permission to copy all pictures from his books and place them to the corresponding models. This alone shows his character - and his wisdom, knowing that this is a good investment - also for his books, knowing also that this is for the benefit of all collectors worldwide.

As a member since 2010 he uploaded a few hundred pictures of his own collection which can be seen here. Using the sort by year you find his rare pieces at once. We all have lost one of our best members in the USA.

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Alan Douglas 
20.Nov.15 05:24
281 from 4372

Joe Sousa (USA)
Editor
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Joe Sousa

Fellow radiophiles:

I can only echo all the sentiments already expressed about the passing of Alan Douglas.

Living less than a couple of hours from Alan, I saw him regularly at hobby meetings before I finally visited him at his house in Pocasset Massachusetts, USA, with Ernst and Kathrin Erb and fellow radio collector/teacher Ron Roscoe in June of 2013. Kathrin kindly took the following photo to mark our visit.

Left to right in the photo: Ron Roscoe, Joe Sousa, Alan Douglas, Ernst Erb.

Alan's kindness is manifest in the strawberries that he gave me from his garden.

Most recently, I talked to Alan this summer at the MIT Flea Market in Cambridge Massachusetts, USA. Alan would often set up a table to sell. He usually came with his nephew or other family. This way, Alan was free to walk around the flea market to find antique treasures, while his family stood by his selling table. 

Alan's interest in history extended to other branches of technology, including his impressive player pneumatic wooden organ, which he bought from a working installation and reinstalled himself in a separate building behind his house. An organ of this scale is an intrinsic part of the building. Alan played several music paper rolls on his organ for our benefit during our visit in 2013.

He was also interested in the history of the area in lived in. Most recently, Alan was involved in rebuilding stone walls that were historically used by farmers in New England to mark property lines. Alan shared his stone work at this fellow antique radio web site. One of the photos shows Alan's natural engineering gift in the crane he designed and built, so that he could move large stones by himself.

In my recent email exchange on Alan's passing with Ernst and other RM members, part of the email thread was in German. Alan's legacy will be remembered in many languages across the globe. Alan would be humbled and amused by this realization.

My condolences to his family and to all his friends and admirers,

-Joe

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