Marvin Taub: Gracious & Gentle
Vision Keeper Lloyd Olson of the New England Dance For All People requests our hearty prayers for our fellow dancer Marvin Taub who crossed over December 30th, 2014, walking his dogs and playing his flute, his two favorite things. He has danced one year at the Maine dance, three years at the New England dance, and eight years at New York, beginning in 2002. He often could be found with his flute in hand.
Marvin’s good friend Zanna has written this beautiful eulogy: “Marvin has been my very dear friend for 8 years and we spent 2 years teaching at the same school in Ho Chi Min City in Vietnam, 2007-09. He was a gracious and gentle man and his presence will be greatly missed.
“Marvin was a local presence in many ways. A local newspaper ran an article about how his flute playing at sunset on Table Rock in Oneonta, NY, was an iconic aspect of the Hartwick College experience. He was amazingly energetic, preferring to be outside, walking, playing his flute, canoeing and these last few years he has regularly walked my dogs at Pine Lake several times a week. He had a favorite hike that he took, stopping to enjoy the meadow, the river, the woods and the lake. A 300 year oak was a standard stop were he would appreciate what changes this oak had seen in the world and drop a small stone at its base. In the summer he would come in from walking at Pine Lake, eat something and head up Table Rock Mountain to flute the sun down. He often exclaimed about how deep his love of this land along the Susquehanna was, from his childhood in Binghamton to his time here in Oneonta.
“Marvin had an authentic presence that made him very easy for children especially to connect with. As a long time early childhood educator at SUNY he had a huge impact on the community. People would often come up to him and remind him of their time together in his class, 20 years earlier!
He had an affinity with indigenous cultures that was reflected in his time spent studying and visiting in the American Southwest, South America, South Africa and living in Vietnam. He was uniquely curious and appreciative of the world, especially connections in nature, finding meaning in the flight of a hawk or a slow turtle on a log.
“In my life Marvin was a wonderful friend, a companion in the exploration of meaning in life. He had a way of looking at spirituality that brought in the entire world, especially nature. Wherever he was, he set up photos of his ancestors and the rest of his family, along with a feather, a stone or an artifact from South Africa or Vietnam. He was a great mentor and guide to my daughter, steadying her in teen years and college.
“Marvin knew what mattered in life and focused on it. Sometimes I would ask a favor of him and he would look at the sky and trees and say, I will do it tomorrow, today I have to get out in the woods.
“He took my dogs walking the afternoon of December 30, 2013. I was out for the evening and on my return at 10:30 I called his good friend Hutch and we met the police at Pine Lake. With the help of many search and rescue people we eventually found where he had fallen in, apparently having walked most of the way across the lake from the beach towards the sauna.”
