Bob "Mr. Mac" McQuillen (June 27, 1923 – February 4, 2014) was a teacher, musician, and prolific composer of

contra dance Contra dance (also contradance, contra-dance and other variant spellings) is a form of folk dance, folk dancing made up of long lines of couples. It has mixed origins from English country dance, Scottish country dance, and French dance styles in ...

tunes. He was a recipient of a 2002

National Heritage Fellowship The National Heritage Fellowship is a lifetime honor presented to master folk and traditional artists by the National Endowment for the Arts. Similar to Japan's Living National Treasure award, the Fellowship is the United States government's h ...

awarded by the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the feder ...

, which is the United States government's highest honor in the folk and traditional arts.

Early life

McQuillen was born near

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, but his family moved to southwestern

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

when he was young. Although his father and grandfather were musicians, and Bob took piano lessons as a child, he didn't grow attached to music until after his time as a

Marine Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine current power * Marine debris * Marine energy * Marine habitats * Mari ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He started going to contra dances in and around

Peterborough, New Hampshire Peterborough is a New England town, town in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 6,418 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The main village, with 3,090 people at the ...

, several times a week, and eventually joined the Ralph Page Orchestra. At a contra dance in 1946, he met Priscilla Scribner, whom he married a year later. They had three children, Dan, Rebecca, and William. After returning from the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

, McQuillen settled down and became an

industrial arts Industrial arts is an educational program that features the fabrication of objects in wood or metal using a variety of hand, power, or machine tools. Industrial Arts are commonly referred to as Technology Education. It may include small engine ...

teacher at Peterborough High School and ConVal High School, where the students referred to him as "Mr. Mac". At some point, he was a police officer and a school bus driver.

Contra dance years

McQuillen was involved in the contra dance community for over 60 years. Over his lifetime, he wrote more than 1,300 dance tunes, most of which he named after people or events in his life. This tradition began with his first tune, "Scotty O'Neil", named after one of his students who had died. McQuillen was the subject of a 2001 documentary film titled ''Paid to Eat Ice Cream: Bob McQuillen and New England Contra Dancing''. Perhaps his most famous tune is the walt
"Amelia"

Death

McQuillen suffered a stroke while at a restaurant on Sunday, January 26, 2014. He was taken to

Catholic Medical Center Catholic Medical Center (CMC) is a 330-licensed bed (with 258 beds staffed) not-for-profit full-service acute care hospital located in the West Side area of Manchester, New Hampshire, United States. CMC offers medical-surgical care with more than ...

Manchester, New Hampshire Manchester is the List of municipalities in New Hampshire, most populous city in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. Located on the banks of the Merrimack River, it had a population of 115,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Manches ...

, where he died on Tuesday, February 4, exactly 29 years after his wife.

Discography

References

External links