Tribute to Eddie Martin

Tribute to Eddie Martin

This tribute was shared at the December 10, 2013 business meeting for the College Youths in London. Hopefully folks who both did and did not know Eddie will appreciate the man we knew, as well as the role he played in making the North American Guild the organization it is today.

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It is with a heavy heart that we send this American tribute to our friend Eddie Martin, who passed away on November 18, 2013.

Eddie started ringing at Great Bowden Leicestershire in the early 1950’s and rang his first peal on May 30th 1953 for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth. Eddie rang a total of 245 peals (161 in tower and 84 in hand), 173 of which he conducted. Eddie was elected to the College Youths in 1983 and wore his CY tie with pride but was also very happy to be in a “mixed marriage” with his wife Ann, who is a Cumberland.

Eddie had a lifelong fascination with composition, especially the rarified world of triples, with its difficult puzzles of fitting together all 5,040 possible rows. Besides innumerable peal compositions, he also assembled a variety of new and interesting triples methods, including the triples principles Martin's and Artistic. He authored two books on twin hunting triples methods and at the time of his death, he was writing a book on Stedman.

Eddie first visited the Washington DC area in 1968 and moved here in 1971, an exciting time for ringing in North America. The installation of the bells at the National Cathedral in 1963 had energized the few ringers here and in 1972 the North American Guild was founded with Eddie as one of the original 141 members. He went on to conduct numerous first peals for the Guild and for North America including the firsts of Grandsire Triples and Cinques, Erin Caters and Cinques, Stedman Triples, London Major, Yorkshire Royal, and Spliced Surprise Major, most of which were rung in hand. He held several offices in the Guild over the years including that of peal secretary, education officer, and editor of the North American Guild publication, the Clapper.

Eddie met his future wife through The Ringing World. Ann was one of the early ringers at the National Cathedral and wrote a school essay on bell ringing that was later published in the journal. After the article was published, Eddie wrote a letter to Ann. They corresponded for several years, developing a relationship which grew stronger while Ann studied at Oxford. They were married at the National Cathedral in 1971, a place their daughter Lucy referred to as his spiritual home.

Although Eddie’s ringing resume is interesting, it does not help anyone who did not know him understand why we will miss him so much. Since he first entered our lives in 1968, we came to know him as a wonderful friend, teacher and ringing evangelist. In the weeks since his death many of us have shared Eddie-centric anecdotes and personal thoughts, some of which we repeat here.

Eddie conducted a handbell peal of Plain Bob Minor in September 1972 that took place in a brown Mercury Cougar as it traveled on the New Jersey Turnpike from Washington DC to Massachusetts. He, Ann, and Marj Batchelor Winter rang while another ringer, Mary Clark drove the car. The successful peal attempt continued even as Mary stopped at a rest stop, leaving the three of them ringing in the locked car.

Don Morrison recounts that when Ann and Eddie’s eldest child, Tim, was two or three, he was sitting in Eddie's lap during a touch of Stedman Cinques in hand, with Eddie ringing one bell on either side of him. At one point when Eddie said "Bob" Timothy immediately shouted "No bob, daddy, no bob." Eddie proceeded to call a different touch but there was of course discussion afterwards about exactly how Timothy had learned the phrase "no bob."

Rick Dirksen recalls a peal of Plain Bob Max rung in hand in a building believed to be unoccupied at Groton School in Massachusetts. At the conclusion of the peal, Eddie rushed into the room, told them to shut up, and had them flee through another door. Apparently a family, with small children past their bedtime, was within earshot and very very angry. Eddie had managed to keep the furious parents at bay for nearly 2 hours with promises that this was a Guinness World Record, that it would be done soon, that they were nearing the end, that they were almost finished etc.

Marj Batchelor Winter captured his enthusiasm in an e-mail describing the excitement of ringing in the US in the 1970’s: “He was not just another competent ringer, not just a part of the band, but the backbone. He was conductor, composer and general all-round encourager. He made any band stronger, he gave all ringers confidence, he was the sort of catalyst that made the inspiring things in the 70’s happen. Our paths did not cross very frequently in recent years, but I feel his loss quite acutely for all that. Somehow knowing he was there in the world somewhere made the world seem a better place.

Eddie’s humor, patience, and persistent kindness will be missed by all of us. Our thoughts are with his wife Ann, his brother Ray, and his children Tim and Lucy.

Signed, Beth Sinclair

Many thanks to Don Morrison, Ann Martin, Bill Kollar, Quilla Roth, Mary Clark, Marj Batchelor Winter, Theresa Rice, Ray Martin, Jeff Smith, and Rick Dirksen for the recollections and factoids they contributed to this tribute.