Ed Trickett

Ed formed the group Bok, Muir and Trickett with Gordon Bok and Ann Mayo Muir in 1969, which went on to become the best selling group on the Folk-Legacy label and a standard inclusion in any folk music record collector’s home. Particularly noteworthy was their Minneapolis Concert release. There was a touring scene of artists gathering at house concerts, folklore societies and small venues that coalesced around Folk-Legacy, and Ed was an enthusiastic part of that scene. He will be missed.

— Smithsonian Folkways

Smithsonian Folkways Tribute

Obituary

Ed was born in Uniontown, PA, and grew up in Washington DC, on Church Street near DuPont circle. His grandfather had been a coal miner in West Virginia, and the family left the coal camps and migrated to DC for work in the 1930’s. With a choir scholarship from the National Cathedral, Ed attended the Beauvoir School, and graduated from St Albans school. The church harmonies were an inspiration for his musical arrangements. His other early musical influences came from many summers he spent at the Cibola camp near Taos, New Mexico. With other musicians associated with the camp he was part of the original Golden Ring recorded at WFMT in Chicago in 1964.

Ed was a well-loved musician in the folk music community. He appeared on over 40 recordings, most of them with Folk Legacy Records, now part of the Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. His discography includes 4 solo records, 11 as a trio with Gordon Bok and Ann Mayo Muir, and countless recordings with other artists. Despite persistent pressure early in his academic career to give up music and focus exclusively on psychology, he remained steadfast in his commitment to doing what he loved on his own terms. Musicians in the folk community cite his influence as an interpreter of songs who always put the song first, filling in harmonies without becoming the centerpiece.

Ed was a well-known psychologist, referred to as a “giant” in the field of community psychology. He had served as President of the Community Psychology Division of the American Psychological Association, Editor of its flagship journal, the American Journal of Community Psychology, and received awards for distinguished contributions. While a professor of psychology at Yale University, the University of Maryland, the University of Illinois at Chicago, and most recently the University of Miami he published over 150 academic papers. Ed is best known for articulating a social ecological approach to psychology and applying it to research on adolescents and schools, particularly immigrant and refugee students with his wife, Dina Birman. He attended Trinity College where he majored in psychology and minored in English, Ohio State University for his Ph.D. in clinical psychology, and Stanford for his post-doctoral internship.

Ed passed away suddenly on May 10. He is survived by Dina, his wife of 33 years; daughters Jennifer Trickett and Kate Trickett of San Pedro, CA, and sons Nicholas Trickett of London, UK, and Alec Trickett of Chicago. [Obituary]