Richard Lee Obituary

Richard Hoover Lee was born November 9, 1941 in Jackson Heights, NY to Benjamin H. and Alice Evelyn (Hoover) Lee. He died Aug 27, 2014 at his home in Natick, MA after a months-long battle with cancer. Rick will be remembered as a gifted musician, accomplished psychologist, therapist and teacher, and as a loving father and grandfather. Rick Lee, the musician, was many things: A singer with a warm, deep voice, an accomplished pianist and banjoist, a skilled songwriter and performer, a master jammer, and a consummate song collector, folk music archivist and scholar. His music and his many recordings are enjoyed and respected all over the world. Rick is also well-loved for his support and encouragement of other musicians of all ages over the span of more than 50 years. He will be deeply missed by those whose lives he touched - in the folk and traditional music community and well beyond. As a Psychologist, Rick created curriculum for the psychological component of the Harvard Negotiation Project (HNP), a large one month intensive course open to law students and other graduate students at Harvard Law School. Rick taught in that course for thirty years, and a version of it is still being taught today. He also taught negotiation workshops throughout the US and Europe. His work at the HNP was acknowledged in the best-selling book "Difficult Conversations" by Douglas Stone, Bruce Patton and Sheila Heen. As a therapist, Rick worked with individuals, couples, and families, focusing on each individual as a member of a complex interconnected and interdependent system across generational lines. He was preceded in death by his parents. He is survived by his son, Peter, and daughter-in-law, Michelle, of Chelmsford, MA, and grandchildren Samantha and Erick. There was no funeral. Rick was cremated and his ashes scattered. Donations in his memory can be made to the Rick Lee Memorial fund, addressed to Indian Neck Folk Festival, Box 374, Salisbury, CT 06068. The fund will be used to help archive recordings from the Indian Neck Folk Festival, which he loved and attended regularly for many decades.