Leo Crandall died suddenly on Saturday, May 29th. He was 67 years old. Born to Carl and Shirley Crandall in a still- industrial Detroit, he spent a happy childhood there with his brother, Butch and sisters, Sheryl and Patricia. He moved to the Chicago area in his mid-teens and spent the next 15 years there. He taught guitar lessons at the Main Street Music Emporium in Downer’s Grove, attended the Chicago Conservatory College of Music, and earned his BA in English from the University of Illinois, where he graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. He was married at 19 and had a daughter, Erica, who was ever thereafter the joy of his life. After a brief stint working for the Phoenix Symphony in the 80’s, Leo arrived in Syracuse and spent the next 30 years enmeshed in its cultural life – at the Syracuse Symphony, the Rome Art and Community Center, the Cultural Resources Council, and at the Everson Museum. And even though he spent his career in Arts Administration, his contributions to the Syracuse cultural scene were much wider. Leo played with virtually every serious musician in the Syracuse area, some in public venues with formal bands like the Gonstermachers, others on front porches and in the living rooms of those with whom he forged life long friendships. Leo left us a tremendous catalog of his music. He enjoyed a powerful surge of creative activity during the pandemic time, which makes his passing all the more painful. He was preparing to release his 10th album this summer, with another solo album waiting to be mixed. His music was also gaining an increasingly broad international audience, winning accolades for videos which featured his music in London, and throughout Europe, Canada, South America, Australia and Japan. Leo spent his last decade as an instructor at Syracuse University, working in the College of Visual and Performing Arts, and with the University Honors Program. He was an astute and enthusiastic analyst of film, with a vast knowledge of its varied history and forms. He loved collaborating with local filmmakers during the process of creating videos to accompany his own music. And he loved teaching film and graphic novels, always striving to find the best possible and most interesting reading of every student’s work. Leo was a natural connector of people. He was so genuinely enthusiastic about the amazing qualities of his friends and colleagues that he delighted in introducing people in his circle to each other so that they might get to know and appreciate them too. He was a sharer of knowledge as well as people. He relished recovering arcane cultural touchpoints and applying them in thoughtful new ways with his own unique perspective. Leo leaves behind his mother, Shirley; his daughter, Erica; son-in-law, Eric; sister, Trish; his nieces and nephews; Deborah Kuschner - the person he felt so lucky to have found – and many, many friends.