Aly Prince (1948 - 2026)
Beloved presenter of Folk and Roots, Aly Prince.
Beloved presenter of RNIB Connect Radio’s Folk and Roots, Aly Prince, has passed away at the age of 77. Aly was part of the RNIB Connect Radio family for 10 years and was a dear friend.
Aly was born in Dublin of Scottish parents and has lived all his life in London. As a student, he was diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa which means he had chronic tunnel vision and very poor adaptation to changes in light. He explained, ‘At best, it's like looking through two drinking straws and when there are changes in light levels, I cannot see anything.’ He was registered as partially sighted in the 1990's and as blind in 2002.
He spent many years as a social worker, becoming freelance in 1991, specialising in safeguarding, training and consultancy. In 2013, he decided to refocus and concentrate on music. As a very young teenager, he became fascinated by blues, gospel and soul music, he then also became interested in country and folk, then music from around the world. He always found music a great counter to the stresses of his professional life.
Aly’s Folk and Roots programmes were a beautiful mix of tracks from all around the world and his listeners loved how Aly’s knowledge weaved each show together.
He is sorely missed by us all at RNIB Connect Radio and we send our deepest condolences to Louise, his wife and George his son and family.