The “I miss George Grand” discussion.

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.

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.

dromunds wrote: »

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.

cfrizz wrote: »

cmy330go wrote: »

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.

DSkip wrote: »

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.

DSkip wrote: »

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/

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.