Ted Marshall

My biological father passed away last week. He was named Vearl, a name combining "Vern" and "Earl", two relatives, but when he became an adult he began going by Ted. Most of my formative years were lived with my step-father, Steve, but I saw Ted occasionally throughout my youth before living with him for a time in my 20s. I've often wondered if my fondness for Shakespeare's Henry IV was related to this experience of growing up with two Dads. I'm not sure who would be the Falstaff and who would be the King Henry IV.

When I was a kid, I was a fan of Dungeons and Dragons, particularly the Dragonlance franchise. I used to tell Ted about these stories and he'd listen patiently even though he was a huge Lord of the Rings fan and knew Dragonlance was but a pale shadow of Tolkien's work. I think it was his influence that finally led to me reading The Hobbit in high school. I'm certainly grateful for that.

He was a guitarist and had been in bands. After retiring and moving to Tennessee, he played with a group called Marshall Law. He gave me two guitars when I was younger but I never got especially good at playing them. He liked Led Zeppelin and Johnny Cash among many other rock groups. I remember he often recommended Mountain to me as a band that was too often overlooked. So this is for him: