>Tue, 03 Nov 2009 08:17:29 -0800 Susan Kline wrote: >I will take it as given that once I hang up the tuning hammer, someone >will somehow appear. If I'm still around and kicking by then, I might >inform the major schools. Of course, maybe I'll be tuning away and >drop dead. I believe Ted Sambell once said, "they'll have to scrape >me off the keyboard." <smile> Sure beats hanging on in some miserable >hospital or old folks home. >Susan Kline, RPT Susan, If you all don't mind, this calls for another story. Those who have been around the business in the Boston area probably remember Bob Ruthman. Bob - after serving as a ship's cook in the Navy through World War II and playing a mean harmonica all the while - was discovered to have perfect pitch by some lucky happenstance. So upon discharge he was advised to use his GI Bill to enroll at the North Bennet Street School (yes, it's been around for over 100 years) to learn piano tuning. After that he worked as staff technician for the Steinway dealer in Boston for 34 years - where I was privileged to be his colleague for the last one... He was working on a piano at a motel out in Lynn (some sort of leg or lyre repair - I forget, it was about 20 years ago) - when the manager got suspicious, not having heard anything in a long time. He found Bob lying dead under the piano, victim of his third heart attack. Poor Bob, people at the funeral were saying... Those of us who knew him rather thought, "Lucky Bob - he died while doing what he loved". In his years at Steinert Bob taught a lot of "green" technicians - including me - an awful lot... A week after the funeral, I got sent out to Lynn to finish the job. It was sort of weird... Still, if one has to go... Israel Stein -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/caut.php/attachments/20091103/5f918226/attachment.htm>
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