(April 14, 1941 -- May 10, 2022)

Ed’s family posted this Memorial for him online on MyKeeper.com:

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.

[Click here to see the site on MyKeeper.co, which includes photos and mementos.]

Dave Ahlgren sent us tis obituary announcement posted online by the University of Illinois Chicago on July 19, 2022:

Former faculty Dr. Edison Trickett passed away in May 2022

The Department of Psychology at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) was saddened by the news of the passing of former faculty member and friend, Dr. Edison “Ed” Trickett. Ed grew up in Washington, DC where he attended St. Albans School at the National Cathedral. He completed his undergraduate degree at Trinity College, earned his Ph.D. in Psychology from the Ohio State University, and went on to complete his post-doctoral work at Stanford University. He held faculty positions at Yale University and the University of Maryland before joining UIC from 2000 until 2015, alongside his wife, Dr. Dina Birman. Ed was known for bringing complex and elegant insights with unassuming style and great sense of humor to articulating a social ecological approach to psychology. He published over 150 academic papers over the course of his career. He had served as President of the Community Psychology Division of the American Psychological Association/Society for Community Research and Action, Editor of its flagship journal, the American Journal of Community Psychology and received awards for distinguished contributions. Together with James G. Kelly, he articulated the ecological metaphor for understanding people in context.

After dedicating 15 years to UIC and his students, Ed and Dina moved to the Sunshine State and he continued his work at the University of Miami. Though he was no longer walking the halls of BSB or seen teaching in our classrooms, Ed’s spirit has always seemed to fill these halls. The impact he left on our discipline and department is larger than words can describe. Ed is considered a founding member of Community Psychology and a pioneer for the early research that led to the development of our Community and Prevention Research (CPR) program. During his time as a faculty member, Ed served as the Chair for the CPR program and the Graduate Educational Outcomes Committee, now known as the Diversity Advancement Committee for some time. He was a mentor and friend whose generosity, kindness, and character left everyone in awe. His commitment to diversity and “challenging” his students and colleagues to conduct research in both quantitative and qualitative traditions showed his optimism and acceptance of new ideas and differences, which speaks to his character and ability to lead and cultivate these qualities in others.

Aside from academia, Ed was a well-loved musician in the folk music community. As a child he sang in the choir at the National Cathedral in Washington, and the harmonies were an inspiration for his musical arrangements. 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. He appeared on over 40 recordings with Folk Legacy Records, now at the Smithsonian. 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 on psychology, he remained steadfast in his commitment to doing what he loved on his own terms. In a recent interview he described how in 1969 in his first week of his term as Assistant Professor at Yale he had to tell the psychology department chair that he would be taking time off to go to perform at Woodstock.

Ed continued working part-time at the University of Miami – School of Education in the PhD program for Community Wellbeing. He continued his research with interests including the study of acculturation and adaption of refugee and immigrant adolescents. In 2020 he gave the keynote lecture at the International Forum on Teacher Education (IFTE) held virtually in Kazan, Russia and contributed a commentary to the American Journal of Community Psychology in 2021.

Ed was so well-versed and able to connect with people through several mediums and will always be admired for the life he has lived and shared. He will be remembered as a giant, not just as a scholar or folksinger, but for the nature of his heart, which has left lasting impressions on all those he connected with over the years. We extend our deepest condolences to his wife, Dina, their children, and all those who knew and called him family or friend. For we know his life and legacy will surely be carried through them.

[Modified on July 25, 2022]

And this was posted online on May 18, 2022 by Smithsonian Folkways Recordings:

Remembering Ed Trickett

Smithsonian Folkways is sad to hear of the passing of folksinger and songwriter Ed Trickett. Ed had a long association with Folk-Legacy Records starting with his appearance on Golden Ring in 1966 and became a central figure in the label's expansive roster. He also frequently visited the home of Folk-Legacy founders Sandy and Caroline Paton and helped the pair with the label's operations. He was a great collector and performer of folk songs and considered himself a “music interpreter”.

Trickett was originally from Washington, D.C. and taught at the University of Maryland. He was one of the early members of the Washington Folklore Society. He later moved to Illinois, before settling in Florida. He was living in Coral Gables at the time of his death.

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.

This photo, shared by Dave Ahlgren '64, was taken at at the Pemaquid lighthouse
the last time he saw Ed when he visited them in Maine in 2021.