Eddie and Sheila Cass, Abram, Lancashire, June 2009. Photo by Elaine Bradtke.
Eddie Cass died in hospital in his beloved Manchester on 17 September 2014, aged 77. His wife, Sheila, and two of his three sons, were with him.
Eddie was a member of the Carpenter Project team from the outset. Over the fourteen years that we worked together, we came to value not only his expertise in folk drama, but his extensive knowledge of a host of other subjects, from the history of playing cards to Elizabeth David, the food writer. A little older than the rest of us, he quickly became a combination of esteemed colleague and beloved uncle. We met at his house on numerous occasions where our project discussions were facilitated by the generous hospitality of both Eddie and Sheila.
Despite several bouts of illness in recent years, Eddie had worked tirelessly on completing the editing of the folk play volumes of the Carpenter collection critical edition. We greatly regret that he did not live to see them published but they have now been submitted to University Press of Mississippi and will undoubtedly form a fitting monument to his scholarship.
Meanwhile, we extend our heartfelt sympathies to Sheila, Tony, Tim, and Nick, and their families.
Obituaries and Tributes
- The Guardian, 2 November 2014
- Tribute by Nick Mansfield
- Remembrance of Eddie Cass by Michael Preston, read at the American Folklore Society Annual Meeting, 2014