According to a post on his Facebook page the afternoon of Thursday January 9, ‘Acoustic Planet’ radio host Steve Clarke has passed away at his home in Erin, Ontario. The announcement, which did not include a cause of death, said he died on Wed. January 8.

While the information contained in the Facebook posting appears to be accurate, based on comments from his friends and some family members, the source of the actual post, put up around 1:30 p.m. on January 9, is unclear. Some family members had been asking that it be removed until his elderly mother had been notified by his siblings and apparently the post was made before at least some other members of his family had learned of his demise, so it appears not to have originated with an immediate family member.

Clarke had been hosting the weekly two-hour radio show, which featured music from the Folk/Roots genres, on the station known as Mix 88.1 FM for the past several years. No announcement of Clarke’s passing yet appears on the station’s website and his show is still listed in the published on-air rotation.

Friends and acquaintances of Clarke were quick to post condolences on his Facebook page following the announcement.

Music promoter Jane Harbury posted that she was “devastated” by the news. Songwriter Michael Laderoute called Clarke “a great fella and a true friend of acoustic musicians everywhere. Glen Hornblast expressed similar sentiments, calling him “a great friend of folk music and Canadian Folk Musicians”.

The original post added that a viewing will be held at Brampton Memorial Gardens at Chinguacousy and Bovaird in Brampton this coming Sunday, January 12, from 2-6 p.m., with a funeral service to be held in the same location the following day at 11 a.m.