TEEPEN, THOMAS HENRY "TOM" (1935-2017)

Tom Teepen, who became a national editorial columnist for Cox Newspapers, was formerly editorial page editor for the Dayton Daily News and also wrote a folk music column for the newspaper. He became interested in bluegrass, and that interest began creeping into his folk music column with reviews of bluegrass shows and records. He did a realistic feature on a concert tour with Larry Sparks and a profile of Red Allen for Muleskinner News. Two of his articles were anthologized in The Bluegrass Reader. Teepen’s writings helped to legitimize bluegrass music for mainstream readers.