Edmund Ward (November 2, 1948 – May 3, 2021) was an American writer and radio commentator, the "rock-and-roll historian" for NPR's program ''

Fresh Air ''Fresh Air'' is an American radio talk show broadcast on National Public Radio stations across the United States since 1985. It is produced by WHYY-FM in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The show's host is Terry Gross. , the show was syndicated to ...

'' from 1987 to 2017 and one of the original founders of Austin's

South by Southwest South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, ...

music festival. Ward grew up in Eastchester, New York. He attended Antioch College and began his music-writing career in 1965. He was on the staff of '' Crawdaddy!'' (1967), ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' (1970), and '' Creem'' (1971–1977) magazines and of the ''

Austin American-Statesman The ''Austin American-Statesman'' is the major daily newspaper for Austin, the capital city of Texas. It is owned by Gannett. The paper prints Associated Press, ''New York Times'', ''The Washington Post'', and ''Los Angeles Times'' internationa ...

'' and ''

The Austin Chronicle ''The Austin Chronicle'' is an alternative weekly newspaper published every Thursday in Austin, Texas, United States. The paper is distributed through free news-stands, often at local eateries or coffee houses frequented by its targeted demogr ...

'' (where he was honored as part of their annual "Restaurant Poll", lending his name to their "Ed Ward Memorial Sandwich" award). Ward wrote several books on the history of rock-and-roll and has contributed content, with Rashod Ollison, for the PBS website for the documentary series '' Get Up, Stand Up: The Story of Pop and Protest''.Official PBS website
Accessed 9 March 2007 In addition to his music history lessons on NPR's ''Fresh Air'' he contributed to ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'', and various music magazines. Ward was the original co-host of th
"Let It Roll" podcast
and appeared on 24 episodes of the series. Ward lived in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

between 1993 and 2008, when he moved to Montpellier, France. In 2013 he repatriated and was living in Austin, Texas, at the time of his death.

Works

* ''Rock of Ages: The Rolling Stone History of Rock & Roll'' (1983), with Geoffrey Stokes and Ken Tucker * ''Michael Bloomfield: The Rise and Fall of an American Guitar Hero'' (1983) * ''The History of Rock & Roll, Volume 1: 1920-1963'' (2016) * ''The History of Rock & Roll, Volume 2: 1964–1977'' (2019)

References

External links

Ed Ward's blog

1948 births 2021 deaths American expatriates in Germany American music historians American male non-fiction writers Antioch College alumni Austin American-Statesman people Historians from New York (state) NPR personalities People from Eastchester, New York Rolling Stone people {{US-journalist-1940s-stub 20th-century American journalists American male journalists