One of the great American musical icons, Dave Van Ronk, died at approximately 9:30 AM, February 10, 2002, at New York University Medical Center in Manhattan. He was sixty-five years old.
Although Van Ronk did not achieve the public notoriety achieved by many of his peers from the Greenwich Village folks scene of the early 60’s, he was as loved and as influential as any of them.
“Familiarly known as “The Mayor of MacDougal Street,” Van Ronk presided over an apartment that served as hangout pad/salon to peers like Odetta, Tom Paxton and Peter Yarrow, and a virtual graduate school to the next generation of guitarists, some of whom, like Christine Lavin, achieved broad popularity in their own right. Others who acknowledge his influence include Janis Ian, Suzanne Vega, The Roches and members of The Blues Project. “