[CAUT] The demise of the American piano industry (William, Monroe) (Brent Fischer) (Euphonious Thumpe)

[Euphonious Thumpe]

It would be needlessly cruel of me to maintain the mystery of my identity among all those dedicated Servants of Music and Art who've been so kind as to converse with me via this list, so:

My name is Gordon Lee Stelter
My father was with IBM at its home-town of Endicott, N.Y., so I was raised mere miles from the late, great, Harvey N. Roehl. (Vestal Press owner, player piano aficionado, and publisher of Reblitz's books.)
Though I was apparently named for the player piano in my grandmothers' basement, and enamored with them by 3, this proximity to the spectacular Roehl collection (I met Harvey at 6) provided superb exposure to these impressive devices. I did my first paid player work at 14, then went into the field full-time, professionally, 
after high school. I had a very minor role in the production of Reblitz's first book, in 1976. 
I dropped out to live in monasteries for a few years, then re-entered the trade, but was rear-ended 3 times at traffic lights by women yakking on the phone and such, and laid up for several more years with back and neck injuries.  This, along with the totally avoidable economic "train wreck" of 2008, "finished me off", professionally.
I obviously, though, have a continued interest in the field, and have a  small shop for my own use. I also play ragtime and stride piano, and chose "Euphonious Thump and His Terpsichoral Ten" as a  "stage name", 
and exaggerated inference regarding my capabilities. ("Marketing"!) When that seemed too daunting for the General Public to remember, I shortened it to "Dr. Thump". When youtube arrived, I noted a  burly drummer from N.J. using the same, and decided (mercifully ) to not contest it with him, and added an "e". ( I have learned, from shopping malls all over the Atlanta area, that when an "e" is placed on the end of a word, such as "Pointe", it means it is classy!)

Thumpe
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