I was born in Houston, Texas, in May 30, 1932. And in the 30s, Houston was maybe a city of about 700,000. There was a lot of sound, because the life of a sentient beings such as insects and birds, was really — well, it was — I can’t think of the word, but it was abundant. That’s what I wanted to say. And so, I was always listening to huge canopies of sounds, and it was especially amazing in June, when the June bugs arrived. So, I listened to that, and I was always fascinated with what the birds were saying. ((Summer Cottage)) And around the house, I was listening to piano lessons, because both my grandmother and my mother, who raised me, were pianists, and were teachers. So, there were music lessons. And my mother brought home an accordion when I was 9 years old, as she was going to learn to play it in order to be able to teach it, as well as she was teaching piano. But I got fascinated with it, and so she backed off and let me learn to play the accordion. So, more than 70 years later, and I’m still playing it.

Return to Index