2010.12.24: December 24, 2010: Obituary for Ghana RPCV Carroll Buchanan
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2010.12.24: December 24, 2010: Obituary for Ghana RPCV Carroll Buchanan
Obituary for Ghana RPCV Carroll Buchanan
"He was fascinated by learning," Carol Buchanan, his second wife, says. " He was not only a musician. He was an incredible teacher." In the early 1970s Buchanan joined the Peace Corps and volunteered in Ghana, Kenya and Nigeria. When he returned to New York and continued to study music, Buchanan found work as a singer and actor, landing small roles in films like "Malcom X" starring Denzel Washington and TV commercials for Pan-Am Airlines.
Obituary for Ghana RPCV Carroll Buchanan
Buchanan shared his affection for music
Civic organizer served in the Peace Corps and had roles in films
Carroll Buchanan
By J. DAVID McSWANE
Published: Saturday, December 25, 2010 at 1:00 a.m.
Last Modified: Friday, December 24, 2010 at 8:56 p.m.
SARASOTA - Carroll Buchanan was a renaissance man.
Armed with a Ph.D. in music from New York University and almost a world of experience, those close to Buchanan say his community service became a soundtrack for Sarasota's penchant for the arts.
"He loved music," said friend Stewart Stearns, president emeritus of the Community Foundation of Sarasota County. "He not only loved it, he could do it."
Buchanan died Dec. 18 of heart complications. He was 83 years old.
In his fifteen years in Sarasota, Buchanan was instrumental in bringing art and music events here.
Like the luncheon he organized for next February to honor civil rights attorney Fred Gray, much of his community involvement focused on African-American music, art and history.
In 2000, he founded Sarasota's Gulf Coast Community Choir.
"You could talk to him about the history of jazz, and he'd be right there," Stearns says. "And he could talk more intelligently about world situations than probably anybody I ever met."
His wife, Carol Buchanan of Lakewood Ranch, says the two were often teased for being so close they even shared the same name.
"We've been called one Carroll, two Carol, first Carroll, second Carol -- you name it," she quipped. "We had been called Carroll squared sometimes."
He was born Samuel Carroll Buchanan in Baltimore, Maryland.
From there, Buchanan eventually joined the Navy, to teach literacy, and later moved to New York to raise a family with his first wife and study music.
"He was fascinated by learning," Carol Buchanan, his second wife, says. " He was not only a musician. He was an incredible teacher."
In the early 1970s Buchanan joined the Peace Corps and volunteered in Ghana, Kenya and Nigeria.
When he returned to New York and continued to study music, Buchanan found work as a singer and actor, landing small roles in films like "Malcom X" starring Denzel Washington and TV commercials for Pan-Am Airlines.
Though they had been together since 1973, the Buchanans officially married in 1995, when they moved to Sarasota.
A week before his death, the two had returned from a trip to Egypt.
Buchanan is survived by his wife and daughter, Iris, who lives in Atlanta.
The family has planned a private ceremony next week, and will hold a public memorial service in late January.
The luncheon for Fred Gray will not be cancelled, the family said, and is set for Feb. 5 at the downtown Hyatt.
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Headlines: December, 2010; Peace Corps Ghana; Directory of Ghana RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Ghana RPCVs; Obituaries; Music; Movies
When this story was posted in March 2011, this was on the front page of PCOL:
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Story Source: Herald Tribune
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Ghana; Obituaries; Music; Movies
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