KEYBOARDCHAT.COM The Internet Magazine For Organ-Keyboard Enthusiasts Obituaries Margaret Falkner - Creator of ORGANfax 1934-2007 Margaret Falkner loved the Lyme Bay Keyboard Music Festivals and she sadly died at St Catherine's Hospice at the age of 72 - just as the February 2007 event came to an end. It was in 1999, just after her 65th birthday, that she created ber beloved award winning ORGANfax website along with her husband, Alan, and close friend Tom Ricketts. Within two years it became the world's largest and most comprehensive organ-keyboard related web site. It was later highlighted in a national Internet magazine after winning several Golden Web Awards in conjunction with the International Association of Web Masters and Designers. Many organ-keyboard enthusiasts met Margaret at Pontin's Barton Hall, Torquay, where she and her husband, Alan, conducted Internet sessions in the ICT suite (pictured on right) to introduce guests to the ORGANfax web site. Later, at the Lyme Bay Keyboard Experience, Seaton, Devon, Margaret conducted sessions on digital photography, which revealed her talents as an artist and a brilliant photographer. It was at Lyme Bay in October 2006 that Margaret was presented with a silver trophy for her outstanding achievements with ORGANfax (pictured below with Cled Griffin and her husband, Alan). The presentation coincided with the handing over of the web site to Stuart Hutton, editor and publisher of the Music at Home magazine, because of her deteriorating health. At the February 2007 Lyme Bay Festival, coincidentally the weekend she died, Stuart announced ORGANfax 2 - a restyled format of the website. In her home town of Crawley, Margaret was the secretary of the Crawley Keyboard Club, editing and producing their popular newsletter. When Margaret was not creating artistic web pages on her computer, she enjoyed playing her electronic organ and piano.   Much can be said about this remarkable lady who was always determined to go that one mile further - like the time she created the 24/7 Internet organ-keyboard radio programme, which later became known as OrganTRAX. Margaret will be sorely missed in the organ world where she made her mark as a very special and lovable person. Alan, her devoted husband, wishes to thank the many hundreds who have sent him messages of sympathy by post and email and to those who kindly made donations to St Catherine's Hospice in lieu of flowers. William Davies 1921-2006 Organist, pianist and composer William Davies was familiar to BBC Radio listeners for many years on programmes such as Friday Night is Music Night, The Organist Entertains and his own series Just William. He also composed scores for many television programmes, notably Alistair Cooke’s America (1972) and Alan Bennett’s Sunset Across the Bay (1975). William was born in Bolton, Lancashire on June 26, 1921. He began playing the piano at an early age and at the age of 18 gained an ARCM diploma. He worked as a bookbinder before serving in the RAF in Sri Lanka. He frequently broadcast with the BBC as a piano accompanist and on All India Radio. On being demobbed, he became the organist at the Gaumont Theatre, Wolverhampton and in 1947 transferred to the Gaumont, Finchley. In 1953 he joined the Jack Hylton organisation as a musical director. In 1956 he joined the BBC’s London Studio Players, where he remained until 1964. As a freelance he was something of a star attraction and attracted large audiences when he played the organ at churches and cinemas all over the UK. With courtesy - Reprinted from The Stage On-line Tony Back Died 25th January 2006 Tony Back, The Music Man, was a complete musician. Not only could he play the piano and electronic organ, but could compose, arrange music and sing with a lovely voice. He made up for shy and retiring manner with his music and playing. During his lifetime he played backing for such artistes as: Matt Monroe, Tom Jones, Frank Sinatra, Vicki Carr, Johnny Mathis, Shirley Bassey, Lulu, Max Bygraves, Brian Conley and Bradley Walsh. As you can see from the inset, Tony also had his own band, which provided music for all occasions. One of his compositions would have been on the Euro Song Contest if it were not for a technically, which alleged that it appeared somewhere before hand. His music was certainly more worthy of an entry compared to some of the music heard in the contest in recent years. Tony’s appearances at the Organ-Keyboard Festivals were always well received, especially in the early days when he took his “Dulux” dog along with him, having him to sit by the organ on stage as he played. Tony was particularly proud of his web site, which was created by Margaret Falkner of Organfax, who kindly provided the above photo. Return to main page Return to the magazine section contents menu