Gregory Balk

Infobox musical artist | Background = non_vocal_instrumentalist | Instrument = Guitar
Name = Gregory Balk


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Born = birth date|1958|7|4|mf=y
Died = death date and age|1990|2|28|1958|7|4
Alias = Balker
Genre = Agricultural Metal
Associated_acts = Sirus McCormac
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Notable_instruments = Gibson Les Paul 1958 Honeyburst Les Paul Standard
Years_active = 1980-1983
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John Gregory Paul Balk (4 July 1958 - 28 February 1990) was one of Ireland's most successful guitarist/mathematicians. Born in Tra Bhan, Galway, to a poor farming family, Gregory despised rural life and moved to Dublin as soon as his second level education had finished. There he studied Advanced Environmental Geo-Chemistry in Trinity College. Due to strained relationships with his family, he had to make ends meet by busking in and around Temple Bar. It was this busking that acquainted him to his love for music.

In 1980, Balk met his future wife Christina Devereux, a gentle Jewish girlFact|date=July 2007 , at a local socialist rally. They quickly fell in love. Both staunch socialists, Gregory and Christina became heavily involved in anti-fascist politics and two years later they formed Sirus McCormac, whose music was heavily influenced by their left-wing stance.

In 1983 the couple married at a small ceremony in Glendalough, but while on honeymoon in London Christina was killed when, after a night of heavy drinking, their car struck a tree. Gregory was taken into custody, and served 2 years in Altcourse (HM Prison) in Liverpool.

After the death of his wife, Balk turned away music and engrossed himself in mathematics. He returned to Trinity to study for his PhD in Advanced 4th-Dimensional Calculus, which he obtained in 1988.

In the following two years Balk's contributions to the fields of Mathematics and Physics led to advancements in both theoretical and experimental fields. He is most famously noted for his work on fuzzy sets.

Gregory Balk died on 28th February, 1990, when he succumbed to the cluster headaches he had been suffering his whole life. He was cremated and his ashes were placed beside the grave of his wife, in East Anglia.

References

*Jeremy Ringer's "Life of Gregory Balk", McMillian Press LTD, First edition 1992, second edition softback 1995.
*Gregory Balk, "An assessment of the potential applications of 4th Dimensional Fuzzy-Sets and their Vector equivalents" 1988. Vol.8, Page 244, Para 6.
*Alan Dalton, "Politics and Music: The Irish Story" Brandon Book Publishers LTD, hardback edition 1999.