Harlem Boys Choir director Walter Turnbull dead at 62

[The Straight Story]

Choir director Walter Turnbull dead at 62

NEW YORK, March 24 (UPI) -- Walter Turnbull, founder of the famed Harlem Boys Choir, has died in New York from complications of lymphoma.

The 62-year-old choir director was a part of nearly 7,000 boys' lives since starting the choir in 1968, said his brother, Horace. Turnbull died in a Manhattan hospital on Friday, The New York Daily News reported.

"People are taking it very hard. I'm getting calls from all over the country," said Horace Turnbull.

Turnbull also wanted it to be known that his brother was much more than the 2001 sex scandal that hit the choir.

"People should understand that the reason he created the choir was to help save the lives of children, to help them develop as human beings," he said. "His life speaks for itself. The lives of people he's changed speaks for itself."

http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Entertainment/Choir_director_Walter_Turnbull_dead_at_62/20070324-012732-3084r/

[quiet.american]

1. Very sad. God bless him. n/t

[Lydia Leftcoast]

2. I saw the choir perform in Portland maybe ten years ago

They did a great job in classical pieces (Bach, etc.) in the first half, while the second half was choreographed pop numbers, also very well done.

Nearly 7,000 boys and young men got to acquire a solid musical education and travel the world because of Waltner Turnbull.

[newyawker99]

3. R.I.P Mr Turnbull.