Branch Loses an Old Friend:
Al Little
by Geoffrey Selling, August 2002
On August l4th, the Branch suffered the loss of Alfred Little, a friend to many, a Branch teacher and Chairman of the DVB Branch in the Branch's early days. This is a more personal and informal recollection of Al and his work for the Delaware Valley Branch. Those wishing to read a formal obituary of Al can check the August 17th Philadelphia Inquirer, or I can send any interested person a photocopy of it.
Although Al Little had not danced with us for some years, his contributions were many. There is a whole generation of newer dancers who never got a chance to know him, to enjoy his sense of humor and to share Scottish Country dancing with him. Al died of liver cancer at the age of 77.
Al came to SCD by a circuitous route. He had learned of country dancing because he was the longtime announcer at the Delco Scottish Games. Long before we knew his face, he was announcing our demonstrations there, in his always calm, poised voice. Though he announced and saw country dancing at the games, he came to it via another route. In fact, the games crowd rarely took up SCD. The highland dancers found SCD too tame after their highly technical sport, and the pipers and drummers viewed SCD as too sedate.
Al and his first wife, Marian, were always searching for activities they could enjoy together. Al was an enthusiastic outdoorsman, an avid whitewater canoeist and kayaker, and an active member of the Appalachian Mountain Club. Though Marian supported these pursuits, they were not ones she shared. They were both members of the Unitarian Church of Media where Marian did folk dancing. Another early Branch member, Fred Echlemeyer (who died several years ago), taught this folk dance class at the Unitarian Church and regularly brought members of his class to Scottish classes at the Hurds' house in Moylan. It was through this class that Al and Marian found their way to Scottish Country dancing.
But if it took a while for them to start dancing, they were both terribly enthusiastic and keen to learn. They attended class regularly, learned quickly and began right away to participate in the work of the Branch. After a few years, Al stepped into the chairmanship of the Branch and led the Executive Committee with a calm, firm and sensible hand. Al was a peacemaker and when there were differences within the Branch, he worked behind the scenes to resolve conflict and keep the Branch on an even keel.
A few years later, Al and Marian became interested in teaching and joined the Branch candidate class. This was particularly challenging for them because the technical standards of dancing required for the Preliminary Test represented quite a reach. But Al and Marian worked with tenacious energy and determination and both obtained their Preliminary Passes. They had never expected to pass (they later confided) but wanted the training in case they should ever move to a location without SCD. Then, they could start their own group. But, having passed, they took on teaching responsibilities and helped to teach in the Branch basic and intermediate classes.
During their candidate year, Al and Marian attended their first away weekend (Iona Weekend in Washington, DC) and then traveled quite frequently to out-of-town locations for special dance events. From these trips, Al brought back a number of dances which he taught the Branch, including Mary Brandon's Double Sixsome, which was featured on Tanguy programs for a while. Other responsibilities and projects eventually drew Al and Marian away from SCD. Marian's death in l993 was a major blow to Al and his family, though he eventually remarried.
There is an interesting ending to all this—an ending that was revealed in the Philadelphia Inquirer Magazine's cover story a few years ago. Al had always told us he was an engineer and worked at General Electric in the refrigerator division. What the Inquirer Magazine article revealed was that actually, Al had been working undercover on CIA spy satellites all that time. Marian knew he wasn't really designing refrigerators, but she died never knowing what he really did. He would be called away on secret missions regularly and would have to disappear from view, without any family member knowing where he was. He could call them, but they couldn't call him. At times, he would be away for several weeks. This was enormously hard on Marian and the four children, but it was a hardship they simply had to deal with. Al was that valuable to the CIA satellite program. Of course, none of his many dancing friends had any idea that the quiet unassuming Branch Chairman was involved in espionage technology.
Those of us who knew him will miss his gentle and kind ways. Al was an important force in the Branch's formative years.