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Mark Scola

Started by Dennis Markham, August 05, 2017, 12:39:50 PM

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Dennis Markham

I was shocked earlier this week to learn of the passing of long-time telephone collector (and my friend) Mark Scola.  Adding to my shock was the fact that Mark passed on April 23rd, just over three months ago.  Although we had been friends for twelve years or more, in recent years we didn't communicate as much on a regular basis.  Our schedules were opposite and it was difficult to coordinate time to spend together.  It was one of those things where it seems like we just talked a few days ago when in fact it had been weeks or sometimes months.  When we did get together we picked up right where we left off.  We spent many hours at my kitchen table talking over cups of coffee about phones and everything else.

In 2008 I posted on my blog in a story about Mark that he had been collecting phones for over forty years.  He told me his fascination with telephones went back to 1965--over fifty years ago.
Mark was had been a member of both telephone clubs, the A.T.C.A. and T.C.I.  He spent some time on the Board of the T.C.I.  Mark was very knowledgeable on the hobby and was always eager to share what he knew about telephones.  He often was able to provide me with a part that I needed or with a "how to" on fixing up a phone.  Experimenting with plastic and Bakelite repair, Mark spent a lot of time working on various repair techniques.   Many long-time collectors knew of Mark's ability to make a crack in a plastic housing disappear.  He did work for others on many occasions.  He truly loved this hobby and was always willing to help a newbie (like myself) with anything phone related.  We attended several of the T.C.I. Telephone shows in Mason, MI together, along with other local collectors.

In addition to phone collecting, Mark was an avid musician.  He played the guitar and also collected them.  He had many vintage electric guitars and enjoyed blowing the dust off the cases and showing me the gem inside.  Like the cars of the 50's, Mark had turquoise guitars from the same time period.  Mark played in several bands in the area where the band made a few bucks but it was all about the music.  He loved his music and could play anything from Jimi Hendrix to John Denver.  He sometimes played in two bands at the same time, playing in a Country band on one night and Rock-n-Roll the next.

We often "meet" other people with similar interests, (such as telephone collecting) via the internet, such as members here on the forum.  We communicate with e-mail or personal messages and get to know each other.  It's always a bonus when we can meet each other in person, if only briefly.  I was very fortunate to live near Mark and able to talk in person many, many times.  I will miss my friend and think of him often.  My home is full of many phones that I bought from Mark as he "thinned the heard".  I cannot help be reminded of him.

Farewell my friend, Rest in Peace---you will be missed.


cihensley@aol.com

I am sorry to hear this news Dennis. I exchanged a few emails with Mark in the past. He was a true artist in his ability to repair plastic.

Chuck

TelePlay

#2
Very sad news, indeed, Dennis and thanks for the photos and those guitar shots caught my eye.

He has movie credits for writing 2 songs that were used in 3 movies in the late 80's and early 90's. Attached are the IMDb song credits shown for the 3 movies.

Doug Rose

This is how it feels when a family member dies.  This has hit me very hard. I met Mark through the ATCA. I had a 500 set Color Red 302. We used to call them soft plastic sets. Below is a story I had posted before on how Mark got me the correct handset. In the ATCA no one thought about security, all names address and telephone numbers were posted. Mark contacted me about the correct handset for the phone and when I kept telling him I was fine with what I had, he just sent it to me. That started a friendship last lasted many years.

http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=1986.msg26710#msg26710

We would exchange emails almost daily. Before the Lists and the Forum this was how knowledge was shared. Just talk telephones. Mark painted me some amazing phones.

He would send me his latest recordings and ask for an honest critique. Mark was a very good guitar player. Rock and later country.

As Mark's passion for telephones diminished, we did drift apart. I knew Dennis was friendly with Mark and we shared his friendship in common.

I never met Mark or even talked to him on the phone, but I considered him my friend.

This hurts.

Mark was one of the good guys, he will be sorely missed....Doug
Kidphone

JorgeAmely

Dennis:
Thanks for letting the Forum know about Mark. What you wrote is a great obituary to him as a friend and member of the forum community.

May he rest in peace.
Jorge

Dennis Markham

Thank you, Jorge.

Quote from: JorgeAmely on August 06, 2017, 06:01:04 PM
Dennis:
Thanks for letting the Forum know about Mark. What you wrote is a great obituary to him as a friend and member of the forum community.

May he rest in peace.

WEBellSystemChristian

Wow, very sad to hear that Mark died. I never knew him, but I've heard many great things about him, especially from you, Dennis! :)

I never knew he had movie credits for music: Dirty Dancing was my grandmother's favorite movie!
Christian Petterson

"Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right" -Henry Ford

Dennis Markham

I'm not so sure that is the same Mark Scola.  I never heard Mark talk about being involved in anything like that.

~Dennis

TelePlay

Quote from: Dennis Markham on August 06, 2017, 10:46:02 PM
I'm not so sure that is the same Mark Scola.  I never heard Mark talk about being involved in anything like that.

~Dennis

It's not. Took me a couple of hours of searching but finally identified Mark Scola as two separate people in the world of music. The Mark Scola who wrote the two songs is now a sound engineer in a recording studio located in Mississauga, Ontario. He also has credits for being a sound engineer on a couple of albums recorded by Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings. Hard part of same name people is easy to find names but images are far and few between.

So, sorry about the wrong post above. The timing fit in that a young Mark Scola in Detroit might have penned a couple of songs that were picked up by a recording artist but not in this case. To make up for it, I found a few more images of the forum Mark Scola doing his thing with his guitar.

AE_Collector

I just saw this post now. While I didn't really know Mark I certainly know of him. I think I have a couple of phones that I bought from him as well when he was reducing his collection.

Sad to lose yet another one of the phone collecting group. And sorry for your loss of another good friend Dennis. It gets a little depressing doesn't it?

Terry

Dennis Markham

Quote from: AE_Collector on August 24, 2017, 06:50:25 PM
Sad to lose yet another one of the phone collecting group. And sorry for your loss of another good friend Dennis. It gets a little depressing doesn't it?
Terry

Yes it does, Terry.  Another friend of mine that has been tinkering with phones for a while stopped by a few days ago to chit-chat and catch up a bit.    I told him he might want to think twice about visiting.  In the past couple of years, 3 phone collectors that have visited my house to talk telephones (and other things) are no longer on the green side of the sod, (Mark, Doug Pav and another gentleman that was not part of the forum).  All were just slightly older than me.

Dan/Panther

Quote from: TelePlay on August 05, 2017, 02:04:48 PM
Very sad news, indeed, Dennis and thanks for the photos and those guitar shots caught my eye.

He has movie credits for writing 2 songs that were used in 3 movies in the late 80's and early 90's. Attached are the IMDb song credits shown for the 3 movies.


John;
Did you happen to think Jerry Garcia when you saw Marks photos ?

D/P

The More People I meet, The More I Love, and MISS My Dog.  Dan Robinson