Thursday, December 29, 2005
Stevenson Palfi, 53, noted filmmaker
From staff reports
Wednesday, December 28, 2005
Stevenson J. Palfi, a nationally recognized film and video
documentarian, died Dec. 14 at his home in New Orleans. He was 53.
His family said Mr. Palfi died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. They
said he was suffering severe depression in the aftermath of Hurricane
Katrina. Virtually all his property and possessions, both personal and
professional, were destroyed or severely damaged by the storm and the
flooding that followed.
He had been living with his former wife and co-producer, Polly Waring,
whose home was one of the few still habitable in the Mid-City area where both
lived.
Mr. Palfi, a longtime resident of New Orleans, grew up in Chicago, where
he graduated from the University of Chicago Laboratory School. He received
a bachelor's degree in philosophy from Clark University in Worcester,
Mass.
He was a familiar figure in the local music and filmmaking communities.
He is best known for his award-winning 1982 documentary "Piano Players
Rarely Ever Play Together." Still in distribution, the film features three
generations of New Orleans pianists: Isidore "Tuts" Washington, Henry
Roeland "Professor Longhair" Byrd and Allen Toussaint, composer of such hits as
"Workin' in a Coal Mine," "Mother-in-Law" and "Southern Nights."
At the time of his death, Mr. Palfi was in the final stages of production on
a feature-length program about Toussaint titled "Songwriter, Unknown."
He had been working on the film for more than 15 years.
Toussaint said, "My friend Stevenson Palfi's life's work was immortalizing
others, and in so doing, he has immortalized himself. His work will
outlast all of us."
Other New Orleans musicians who were subjects of Mr. Palfi's works
included singer Ernie K-Doe and Preservation Hall banjoist Emmanuel "Manny"
Sayles.
Mr. Palfi received grants, fellowships and awards from, among others,
the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Rockefeller
Foundation, the Channel Four Network of Great Britain, the Corporation for Public
Broadcasting and the National Endowments for the Arts and the Humanities.
His work also included a 13-week series of documentaries and short films
produced for The Learning Channel and hosted by actor Martin Sheen, a
personal friend.
Included in that series of works was "Setting the Record Straight," which
revealed the musical versatility of violinist Papa John Creach, former
fiddler for the rock band Jefferson Starship.
Survivors include a daughter, Nell Palfi; his father, Alfred M. Palfi
of Michiana Shores, Ind.; and a sister, Cynthia Penfold of Avon, Ind.
A tribute to Mr. Palfi is planned at Offbeat Magazine's "Best of the
Beat" Awards ceremony Jan. 21 at the New Orleans House of Blues. Plans for a
further musical celebration of his life and work will be announced later. His
body will be cremated.
(via world music list) ¶ 12/29/2005 06:31:00 PM
From staff reports
Wednesday, December 28, 2005
Stevenson J. Palfi, a nationally recognized film and video
documentarian, died Dec. 14 at his home in New Orleans. He was 53.
His family said Mr. Palfi died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. They
said he was suffering severe depression in the aftermath of Hurricane
Katrina. Virtually all his property and possessions, both personal and
professional, were destroyed or severely damaged by the storm and the
flooding that followed.
He had been living with his former wife and co-producer, Polly Waring,
whose home was one of the few still habitable in the Mid-City area where both
lived.
Mr. Palfi, a longtime resident of New Orleans, grew up in Chicago, where
he graduated from the University of Chicago Laboratory School. He received
a bachelor's degree in philosophy from Clark University in Worcester,
Mass.
He was a familiar figure in the local music and filmmaking communities.
He is best known for his award-winning 1982 documentary "Piano Players
Rarely Ever Play Together." Still in distribution, the film features three
generations of New Orleans pianists: Isidore "Tuts" Washington, Henry
Roeland "Professor Longhair" Byrd and Allen Toussaint, composer of such hits as
"Workin' in a Coal Mine," "Mother-in-Law" and "Southern Nights."
At the time of his death, Mr. Palfi was in the final stages of production on
a feature-length program about Toussaint titled "Songwriter, Unknown."
He had been working on the film for more than 15 years.
Toussaint said, "My friend Stevenson Palfi's life's work was immortalizing
others, and in so doing, he has immortalized himself. His work will
outlast all of us."
Other New Orleans musicians who were subjects of Mr. Palfi's works
included singer Ernie K-Doe and Preservation Hall banjoist Emmanuel "Manny"
Sayles.
Mr. Palfi received grants, fellowships and awards from, among others,
the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Rockefeller
Foundation, the Channel Four Network of Great Britain, the Corporation for Public
Broadcasting and the National Endowments for the Arts and the Humanities.
His work also included a 13-week series of documentaries and short films
produced for The Learning Channel and hosted by actor Martin Sheen, a
personal friend.
Included in that series of works was "Setting the Record Straight," which
revealed the musical versatility of violinist Papa John Creach, former
fiddler for the rock band Jefferson Starship.
Survivors include a daughter, Nell Palfi; his father, Alfred M. Palfi
of Michiana Shores, Ind.; and a sister, Cynthia Penfold of Avon, Ind.
A tribute to Mr. Palfi is planned at Offbeat Magazine's "Best of the
Beat" Awards ceremony Jan. 21 at the New Orleans House of Blues. Plans for a
further musical celebration of his life and work will be announced later. His
body will be cremated.
(via world music list) ¶ 12/29/2005 06:31:00 PM
