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Remembering Uncle Allan And His Folk-Filled Sandal Shop

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

A remembrance now, and this time it's a personal one. Allan Block, my uncle, died this week at the age of 90. Now, I mention this because I'll bet there are people listening who will hear that name, and they'll remember vividly the Allan Block Sandal Shop on West Fourth Street in Greenwich Village. They'll remember - as I do - the earthy, rich smell of leather embedded in that shop. And they'll remember the music that filled the space as the New York folk scene bubbled into its heyday in the 1950s and the '60s.

(SOUNDBITE OF FOLK MUSIC)

BLOCK: Allan was an old-time fiddle player, and a self-taught craftsman as a leather worker. His sandal shop doubled as a magnet for folk musicians in the city. Joan Baez came by and bought sandals for her family. Dylan hung around on the fringes before he was Dylan. The way I've heard it, banjos and guitars and mandolins would appear; and music would spill out onto the street, with Allan fiddling away in the middle. As late folk singer Dave Van Ronk once told a writer: God help you if you wanted to buy a pair of sandals.

(SOUNDBITE OF FOLK MUSIC)

BLOCK: And if you were lucky enough to have bought a pair of Allan Block's handmade sandals, chances are you still have them. They're pretty much indestructible and custom-made. He'd have you stand on two pieces of cardboard, trace the outline of your feet with a pen - it tickled. You'd choose from a couple of dozen simple, original designs and eventually, you'd get your sandals. With his spidery signature inked on the sole, your feet would be happy.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WISH TO THE LORD I'D NEVER BEEN BORN")

BLOCK: Allan left New York City in the late '60s, and moved to a farmhouse in New Hampshire. He kept on fiddling at square dances and folk festivals and crafts fairs across New England; a slender man in a flannel shirt and worn corduroy pants, his legs stomping out the beat.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WISH TO THE LORD I'D NEVER BEEN BORN")

BLOCK: He'd hold his fiddle low so he could sing and play at the same time; his right hand balanced high up on the bow, elbow flying. For years, in the wintertime, Allan could be found out busking on the streets of St. Augustine, Fla., up to the time he was 80. He was a kid from Oshkosh, Wis., ho somehow found his roots in the folk songs and mountain music of Appalachia.

Allan Block is survived by his brother, Dan - my father; by his three children: Mona, Rory and Paul; and of course, by his sandals and his music.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WISH TO THE LORD I'D NEVER BEEN BORN") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

As special correspondent and guest host of NPR's news programs, Melissa Block brings her signature combination of warmth and incisive reporting. Her work over the decades has earned her journalism's highest honors, and has made her one of NPR's most familiar and beloved voices.