Dennis Satterlee, the author of the Red Allen biography Teardrops In My Eyes, has written to share some good news for Allen fans eager to get their hands on the book, though tempered with some sad news as well.

It seems that the book will be available quite soon, but Dennis also mentioned that his publisher Norman Levine, passed away December 8 after a brief period of hospitalisation.

“It has been a busy week but I think we are finally in a position to tell the world that the book will be available shortly after Christmas. It will be sold through County Sales, Elderly Instruments and will also be available through the International Bluegrass Music Museum gift shop as well as a handful of regional outlets. Of course it can still be ordered through the Plucked String Foundation which has a new southern home at 20 Towne Drive, Box 107, Bluffton, SC 29910.

The late Norman Levine’s other book offerings are still available through his Maryland address [Box 2770 Kensington, MD 20891]and are not available at the Bluffton address.”

The Red Allen book retails at $25.00 and will be available from the Plucked String Foundation eBay store.

Levine was a long-time impressario and evangelist for the mandolin and mandolinists, having been the publisher of Mandolin Quarterly magazine, and a prime mover in the establishment of the Plucked String Foundation. The foundation exists to offer funding for projects that would not be justified based on commercial viability alone, but whose existence would further the goals of the organization, primarily teaching, research and new compositions for the instrument.