The “I miss George Grand” discussion.
Comments
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I don't know if I was "salty" or not, but our exchange was at the end of this post -
https://forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/comment/2181310#Comment_2181310
His original comment wasn't directed at me, i just took exception to the comment. Which wasn't "a fact jack".
I actually think you two were very respectful to each other. You had a disagreement over the definition of being a veteran, but neither of you started slinging any barbs at each other and there were no ad-hominems involved. Sounds to me like George had specific experience with regards to what is and is not considered veteran status, which is where he was arguing his position from. I don't know who was right and who was wrong, but I think you both handled the situation quite well. I wouldn't call this a confrontation. I'd call it a disagreement. If George was looking for a confrontation, he'd have found it!Good music, a good source, and good power can make SDA's sing. Tubes make them dance. -
Mr. George Grand of the New Jersey Grands...a true gentleman."Some people find it easier to be conceited rather than correct."
"Unwad those panties and have a good time man. We're all here to help each other, no matter how it might appear." DSkip -
@Jimbo18 it's also useful to recall that he died very shortly after you had this discussion with him, he would have been quite sick by this point. I doubt he was in the best of spirits...Good music, a good source, and good power can make SDA's sing. Tubes make them dance.
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@Jimbo18 it's also useful to recall that he died very shortly after you had this discussion with him, he would have been quite sick by this point. I doubt he was in the best of spirits...
Could well be. Okay, now I feel ashamed.
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My favorite George Grand quote:
"What I'm about to say will probably offend some of you, but you should know up front, that I don't give a damn."
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mhardy6647 wrote: »George is one of our fallen comrades whom I really miss.My beautiful daughter passed in October....
Thanks for sharing that Mark--saves me the trouble of looking for that post myself, which I usually link to every time one of these (always appreciated) George Grand (of the Jersey Grands) posts comes up.
If he came off as gruff in some of his postings, his true nature fairly exploded out of the posts where he talked about his family, particularly Tiffany. I ordered a fair amount of vinyl from him over the years, and more than once found a 'bonus' album tucked inside. Also got a PM out of the blue from him once, inquiring if I had a SACD player, and he sent out gratis one of a handful of Pink Floyd SACDs he'd picked up for a song somewhere...
Time marches on and we no longer hear from quite a few who were forum regulars (and forum foundational members). I do miss George's presence here.Jay
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For the newbies on this board, one of the things I always waited for ("sufficiently breathless" as Henry James once said,) was George posting his vinyl for sale threads. You had to be on your toes because if you didn't notice the post quick enough there'd be a long line of guys who'd already snagged a whole bunch of the stuff. Once, I looked at my checkbook register (as mentioned, he didn't accept paypal) and I was surprised to see how many checks I had actually written to George Grand over the course of the year. George was meticulous in every way I could discern, and out of appreciation to him I made it a strict point to send him a check for my purchases the same day as I posted, no exceptions. He once told me not too long before he died that he appreciated that, and that I wouldn't believe how people purchased stuff and then dragged their feet forever about paying, he made it apparent that didn't sit right with him at all. I've thought from time to time about how much of a pain in the rear it must've been for him to do the vinyl sales. He first had to acquire the vinyl collections, which he apparently did with frequency. Then he had to grade each album. Then he had to make the long for sale threads listing each album and the grade of the vinyl and the jacket, and the price based apparently on researching the going price of that particular pressing (not to mention writing up the "instructions" at the top of his for sale thread which he made clear were to be meticulously followed.) Then he had to keep track of who bought what, what the total with shipping media mail would be, PM the purchaser with that information, wait for payment, and keep track of payments. Then he had to acquire the cardboard mailers. Then he had to package the vinyl and make the address labels. Then he had to take these down to the post office. He did all this in order to donate the money to the Githens Center. I bought a ton of vinyl from him. I liked the vinyl of course, but I also really liked the fact that he did it for no personal gain, so that others less fortunate might be a little better off. That's the kind of guy he was. He did what was right because it was right. He knew he was leaving us and never complained, faced it straight up. Just like I pictured he lived. Each time I talked to him I gained a higher respect for the man. I while ago I picked up an early Beatles album I bought from George and thought, "That was on the 50% off sale!" Then I thought about all various categories of albums he had on his for sale posts and how I used to chuckle at some of them, "oddballs and oddities," etc. A fantastic guy, as evidenced by the nice posts on this thread.
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Could well be. Okay, now I feel ashamed.
Nothing to be ashamed of. You handled it perfectly.Good music, a good source, and good power can make SDA's sing. Tubes make them dance. -
Always liked George, but he didn't always like me. Champ of a guy though, very generous, very charitable. One thing is for sure, he would not have survived on the forum in todays world.
Good man, they don't make 'em like that any more.HT SYSTEM-
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Love George. If he called you "sweetheart" you were about to get a backside reaming from him...LOL What a character.
I often wonder in today's hyper PC world if that would even fly here ??
No Disrespect Intended
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For the newbies on this board, one of the things I always waited for ("sufficiently breathless" as Henry James once said,) was George posting his vinyl for sale threads. You had to be on your toes because if you didn't notice the post quick enough there'd be a long line of guys who'd already snagged a whole bunch of the stuff. Once, I looked at my checkbook register (as mentioned, he didn't accept paypal) and I was surprised to see how many checks I had actually written to George Grand over the course of the year. George was meticulous in every way I could discern, and out of appreciation to him I made it a strict point to send him a check for my purchases the same day as I posted, no exceptions. He once told me not too long before he died that he appreciated that, and that I wouldn't believe how people purchased stuff and then dragged their feet forever about paying, he made it apparent that didn't sit right with him at all. I've thought from time to time about how much of a pain in the rear it must've been for him to do the vinyl sales. He first had to acquire the vinyl collections, which he apparently did with frequency. Then he had to grade each album. Then he had to make the long for sale threads listing each album and the grade of the vinyl and the jacket, and the price based apparently on researching the going price of that particular pressing (not to mention writing up the "instructions" at the top of his for sale thread which he made clear were to be meticulously followed.) Then he had to keep track of who bought what, what the total with shipping media mail would be, PM the purchaser with that information, wait for payment, and keep track of payments. Then he had to acquire the cardboard mailers. Then he had to package the vinyl and make the address labels. Then he had to take these down to the post office. He did all this in order to donate the money to the Githens Center. I bought a ton of vinyl from him. I liked the vinyl of course, but I also really liked the fact that he did it for no personal gain, so that others less fortunate might be a little better off. That's the kind of guy he was. He did what was right because it was right. He knew he was leaving us and never complained, faced it straight up. Just like I pictured he lived. Each time I talked to him I gained a higher respect for the man. I while ago I picked up an early Beatles album I bought from George and thought, "That was on the 50% off sale!" Then I thought about all various categories of albums he had on his for sale posts and how I used to chuckle at some of them, "oddballs and oddities," etc. A fantastic guy, as evidenced by the nice posts on this thread.
[Sorry if this is a duplicate post]
Yes! Getting those checks out the same day was imperative. I put down whatever I was doing, wrote and posted the check. I kept hard copies of those buys from GG and some were pretty amazing. Wife once joked about the future Grand-Watkins Trust Wing of the Githens Center, hehe.
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Was just thumbing through the archives, and stumbled accross this Grand gem in a thread started by the also missed Madmax, where he was asking who was actively using turntables. Just a nice little glimpse at his lighter side.George Grand wrote: »I have one album I play with. I use the Herb Alpert "Whipped Cream & Other Delights" to gratify myself.
Yea...Not sure George could survive the forum these days. Nor would I want him to.HT
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Was just thumbing through the archives, and stumbled accross this Grand gem in a thread started by the also missed Madmax, where he was asking who was actively using turntables. Just a nice little glimpse at his lighter side.George Grand wrote: »I have one album I play with. I use the Herb Alpert "Whipped Cream & Other Delights" to gratify myself.
Yea...Not sure George could survive the forum these days. Nor would I want him to.
Yes would have survived just fine. The forum rules had already changed greatly while he was here, and he rolled right along with them. He didn't find them onerous and he understood that this is Polk's playground, and their rules.
He dumped on more than one person who refused to pick up on that, especially if it was of a political bent.
But he would state in such a funny way I would be in stitches ROTFLOL!Marantz AV-7705 PrePro, Classé 5 channel 200wpc Amp, Oppo 103 BluRay, Rotel RCD-1072 CDP, Sony XBR-49X800E TV, Polk S60 Main Speakers, Polk ES30 Center Channel, Polk S15 Surround Speakers SVS SB12-NSD x2 -
Was just thumbing through the archives, and stumbled accross this Grand gem in a thread started by the also missed Madmax, where he was asking who was actively using turntables. Just a nice little glimpse at his lighter side.George Grand wrote: »I have one album I play with. I use the Herb Alpert "Whipped Cream & Other Delights" to gratify myself.
Yea...Not sure George could survive the forum these days. Nor would I want him to.
Yes would have survived just fine. The forum rules had already changed greatly while he was here, and he rolled right along with them. He didn't find them onerous and he understood that this is Polk's playground, and their rules.
He dumped on more than one person who refused to pick up on that, especially if it was of a political bent.
But he would state in such a funny way I would be in stitches ROTFLOL!
You didn't know George very well.Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
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I miss George, it was always fun logging on and seeing a Vinyl for sale thread from Mr Grand, and then trying to beat everyone else for the ones I was wanting. On a couple of occasions George put a extra LP in my package. I had a certain album I was looking for and asked him to keep an eye out for it, the album was The Henery Paul Band-Grey Ghost. A month later he sent a mint copy to me with out letting me know, told me it was on the house. A very generous man, and I miss him a lot.Home Theater
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If George knew we were all talking about what a great guy he was, he’d be cursing at us like a truck driver!Good music, a good source, and good power can make SDA's sing. Tubes make them dance.
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If George knew we were all talking about what a great guy he was, he’d be cursing at us like a truck driver!
Yeah, but he'd be pleased, too, don't you think?
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Of course!Good music, a good source, and good power can make SDA's sing. Tubes make them dance.
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I used to get tingles when I saw a new vinyl FS thread from GG. I bought many albums from him and like others have stated, he was meticulous.
I rarely remember dreams, but a weird dream I never told anyone. I once dreamed that I was hanging out with George Grand and he lived in a penthouse on top of a high-rise in like New York City or something. His hair and beard looked like a lion and the sun was shining and we just listen to albums all day.
Kind of trippy, but I guess that’s how I perceived him. A lion of a man, with a big heart, who enjoyed records...2 ChannelTurntable - VPI Classic 2/Ortofon 2M BlueAmplification - Rogue Audio Cronus Magnum II, Parks Audio Budgie PhonoSpeakers - GoldenEar Triton 17.2 Home TheaterDenon AVR-X3300W; Rotel RMB-1066; Klipsch RP-280F's, Klipsch RP-450C, Polk FXi3's, Polk RC60i; Dual SVS PB 2000's; BenQ HT2050; Elite Screens 120"Man CaveTurntable - Pro-Ject 2.9 Wood/Grado GoldAmplification - Dared SL2000a, McCormack DNA 0.5 DeluxeCD: Cambridge AudioSpeakers - Wharfedale Linton 85th Anniversary; LSiM 703; SDA 2A -
Great idea, in for $50 as well!Good music, a good source, and good power can make SDA's sing. Tubes make them dance.
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I miss George. I met him several times and bought a ton of vinyl from him. The picture below was taken at the last Polkfest held at the Polk HQ. This is the best pic that I have of him. George has on the yellow shirt sitting just to the left of center next to the SRT King Esavinon (Ed). The picture was taken a Stu's house in Baltimore. Stu was the VP of Engineering at Polk. Other Polk Forum members in the pic are Anthony, Ohskigod (Lou), scompracer (Rich) and others.
Carl -
As nice as this thread is, if you want to pay homage to Mr. Grand, let his family know they are not forgotten and that his life touched many, even if in small ways. When he passed - not too long after Stephanie did - it hurt me even though George and I didn't really have any type of relationship. I felt for his wife and his children, knowing fully well what that burden felt like.
Losing your spouse sucks. What hurts more is down the road when everybody else's life goes on unhinged and you are still trying to find a way to pick up the pieces that were shattered. You get the bigger pieces back together but the smaller ones that keep it together never seem to show up again. Remind them that they are not the only one who misses him and that they are not the only ones trying to find those small, lost slivers again.
Maybe it is time for us to pitch in and get something for the family - a rose bush perhaps? We could also do another Githens Center drive and present the check to them. I could see no bigger testament to him than this. I'm in for $50.
John, you seem to have the closest relationship with George and his family. Would you like to take the lead if we can get a donation going?
Didn’t know or interact with Mr. Grand but I would add some to the pot.Just a dude doing dude-ly things
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I miss George. I met him several times and bought a ton of vinyl from him. The picture below was taken at the last Polkfest held at the Polk HQ. This is the best pic that I have of him. George has on the yellow shirt sitting just to the left of center next to the SRT King Esavinon (Ed). The picture was taken a Stu's house in Baltimore. Stu was the VP of Engineering at Polk. Other Polk Forum members in the pic are Anthony, Ohskigod (Lou), scompracer (Rich) and others.
Great pic. Love how he's the only one looking down the barrel.
Funny how we always draw a mental image of someone based on mere interactions. I'll never forget chuckling the first time I saw a pic of George. Not in a disrespectful sense, but in the fact that his physical stature belied such a bold name, and strong/unapologetic personality.
Anyway...Whatever you all decide as far as helping the family or the center, I'd be happy to contribute as well.HT
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John, you seem to have the closest relationship with George and his family. Would you like to take the lead if we can get a donation going?
I don't know if you are talking about me here or not. If you are, I wouldn't have seen this if someone hadn't sent me a message pledging money to the effort 'cause I'm not tagged.
I'm in no position to be doing this. My time is taken up almost entirely by my own personal commitments to various organizations like Scouts and towards fixing the numerous problems at my house.
I am still, actually, sitting on a pile of gear from George that I promised to help Mrs. George unload. It's not going as quickly as I would have hoped and some of it nobody wants at all. I'm at a point where I'm probably going to donate the stuff to the veterans association and square up with Mrs. George so she can do what she wants with the cash collected.
She's not likely going to want to be the go-between for you all and The Githens Center. She'll probably just tell you to send a check directly to them and tell them it's in George Grand's name or Club Polk or whatever.
http://www.githenscenter.org/
Expert Moron Extraordinaire
You're just jealous 'cause the voices don't talk to you! -
Well that sure took the wind right out of this thread's sails!
Anyway.... I miss George.Good music, a good source, and good power can make SDA's sing. Tubes make them dance. -
TLW and I were talking about the old Polk gang the other day....which prompted my showing back up yesterday......and I miss George every day. I keep in touch with Teri and Steph on Facebook and it's great to keep up with them but, man, what I wouldn't give to have one more conversation with El Roma.
A million funny stories but the first time I met George was, well, it wasn't so much funny as just not what I expected.
You know how you get in your mind what someone you've never seen might look like? Ok, well, George was bombastic as we all know. Grand? Gotta be a big guy. Plus he was a ANG KC135 boom operator. Anyway, I had in my mind a big, bald loud guy. 6'3" 275. Bald, with a ring of hair around the ear lines.
Anyway, George was coming to Charleston AFB overnight to do some air refueling with our C17's. So, I work on the flightline so, cool. I'll meet him at the jet when they land. The jet taxi's in and the door opens to guide in the staircase truck......and this guys head, deep tan with a graying flat top and aviator shades on pokes out the door. He gets the door open and he can't be more than 5 and a half feet all and 130lbs soaking wet. Can't be the guy......didn't really give it much thought. So, I go up the stairs and say I'm looking for the boomer. Now, George has his bag (flight suit) unzipped and tied around his waist so I can't see his name tag......."what do you think I am, a cigar store Indian?" Missing this obvious clue because I'm looking for a giant of a man...I say No, no, I'm looking for George Grand. To which George replies "I now have confirmation that you aren't too bright".....I bust out laughing. George does not. He just stands there with that lips pursed quizzical look on his face.
As a gift, George brought me a Marantz 2215 receiver. I still have it and wouldn't part with it for all the booze in Scotland.
And it was on from there.....
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That's a great story.
I did know that he was, physically, kind of slight -- but he was a giant of a man in every other respect.
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Thanks for sharing. George is a great guy for sure.
