Author: Martha Novak Clinkscale
Born: 1933
Died: 2010
Bio: Martha Novak Clinkscale (1933-2010) was a musicologist and professor of piano performance. She was trained at the University of Louisville, Yale University, and completed a PhD in Musicology from the University of Minnesota. She taught at the University of California, Riverside (1979-96) and at Southern Methodist University (1998-2004).
  She is best known for her important work creating and continuously building “Early Pianos 1720-1860: A Computerized Relational Database.” Her two books, Makers of the Piano 1700-1820 and Makers of the Piano 1820-1860 were published by Oxford University Press in 1993 and 1999 respectively. 
  Martha is also remembered for her capable editorship of the Journal of the American Musical Instrument Society (1993-96) and her service on the AMIS Board of Governors. She also served the Southeast Historical Keyboard Society as treasurer (2004-8).
  Martha Clinkscale's legacy continues with the website EarlyPianos.org, where the piano database she started remains active as an online resource. 
— John R. Watson

Obituary:

Martha Novak Clinkscale

Clinkscale, Martha Novak Martha Novak Clinkscale of Dallas, TX, died April 24, 2010, from injuries sustained in an automobile accident. Born June 16, 1933, in Akron, Ohio, she grew up in Louisville, KY, and later lived in New Haven, CT, Minneapolis and St. Paul, MN, Riverside, CA, and London, England, before making Dallas her home in 1998. A musicologist and researcher in the history of the early piano, she held piano performance degrees from the University of Louisville (KY) and Yale University, and the PhD in Musicology from the University of Minnesota. She taught at the University of California, Riverside (1979-96) and in the Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University (1998-2004). Preceded in death by her husband, fellow musicologist Edward H. Clinkscale, she is survived by son Thor Loeffler, daughter Lise Loeffler-Welton, son-in-law Robert Welton, and granddaughter Sarah Welton. A gathering of her friends will be held at the home of Larry Palmer, 10125 Cromwell Dr. in Dallas on Saturday, May 1 from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m.