OldSynths

Wow...  for once, I'm speechless.  A second legend (and even bigger hero) in almost as many months.

I'll raise a glass for Mr. Simonton tonight.

Ed



> -----Original Message-----
> From: Marvin Jones [mailto:mjones@...]
> Sent: Wednesday, November 30, 2005 05:39 PM
> To: '', ''
> Subject: [oldsynths] In Memoriam: John Stayton Simonton, Jr.
> 
> Apologies for the massive cross-post, but want to make sure all John's 
> fans get the news.
> 
> Following is the official family press release.
> 
> 
> In Memoriam: John Stayton Simonton, Jr.
> June 24, 1943 \ufffd Nov. 25, 2005
> 
> 
> Oklahoma City \ufffd Founder and president of PAiA Electronics, Inc. (OKC) 
> John Stayton Simonton, Jr. died at his home in Arcadia, Okla. on 
> Friday, Nov. 25 after a yearlong battle with esophageal cancer. He was 
> 62 years old.
> 
> Born in Honolulu, Hawaii to John and Eva Simonton, John Simonton grew 
> up in New Orleans, La. graduating from the Sam Barth School for Boys 
> and the Metairie Park Country Day School. In 1965 while finishing his 
> engineering and psychology degree at Louisiana Tech University in 
> Ruston, La. he met and married Linda Brumfield Simonton.
> 
> After completing his degree in 1967, John moved to Oklahoma to work for 
> the first computerized jet engine test facility at Tinker A.F.B. \ufffd
> 
> In 1968, John founded PAiA Electronics, Inc. in Oklahoma City, a 
> company dedicated to providing synthesizer kits to the do-it-yourself 
> electronic musician. John Simonton has designed hundreds of products 
> including the Gnome MicroSynthesizer, the SMPL System SMPTE / MIDI / 
> Machine synchronizer and the PAiA Programmable Drum Set, which is 
> credited with being the first commercially available user-programmable 
> percussion box.
> 
> Many music artists received their first exposure to synthesis with 
> PAiA\ufffds modular systems. Many engineers, scientists and technicians had 
> early exposure to their professions through his trade journal articles. 
> His work with starved tube circuitry produced the TubeHead series of 
> preamplifiers and his most recent project was PAiA's Theremax theremin.
> 
> A widely read author and contributor in the electronic popular press, 
> John was also the publisher of Polyphony magazine, which was first 
> published in 1975 and later renamed Electronic Musician.  Electronic 
> Musician eventually sold to Mix Publications of Berkeley in 1985. John 
> was also the founding partner in High Technology, Inc. the first 
> computer store in Oklahoma in 1976, which became the first wholesale 
> distributor for Apple Computer, Inc. in 1977.
> 
> Deeply dedicated to doing what was right, John was a mentor and 
> inspiration to many do-it-yourselfers encouraging them to pursue 
> avocations and careers in engineering and music.
> 
> He is survived by wife Linda Simonton, daughter D. Stayton (Staci) 
> Craig, son John S. Simonton III (Trey), granddaughters Nikki Craig and 
> Callie Simonton, and grandson Christopher Kai Simonton.
> 
> A memorial service to celebrate John\ufffds life will be held at 6 p.m., 
> Saturday, Dec. 10 at the Omniplex Science Museum in Oklahoma City. In 
> lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the John S. Simonton Memorial 
> Fund at the Oklahoma City Community Foundation, PO Box 1146, Oklahoma 
> City 73101.
> 
> 
> 
> 
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