Bill Garlick's "diatribe"

[John Minor]

On Wed, 9 Nov 1994, Michael Wathen 556-9565 wrote:

> Garlick's popularity or good fortune has very little if anything with
the Guild.  > He happens to be a member and he also happens to be a
popular teacher.  But his > career as a teacher has arisen independently.
First at the North Bennett school > and later for a short time working for
Steinway.

Michael, if it weren't for the Guild, how would technicians have come to
know about Bill? Perhaps read about him in the sports pages?? The Guild
has, for better or worse, been a forum which has allowed a great many
people to share their knowledge and experience in the area of piano
technology. If the Guild weren't there, something else would be, and we'd
be bemoaning it's faults!

>
> I personally, feel some of the same frustrations.  I paid dearly for my
> knowledge and to exercise a Goodwill giveaway officially encouraged by the Guild
> leaves with a bitter aftertaste.  Who is it serving?  My main purpose in being
> in the Guild is self enrichment and I feel no guilt about that.
>
> Michael Wathen

Sorry Michael, but this sound self-serving! I believe we are called to
GIVE, to share with others, the experiences that have helped us to grow as
humans and piano technicians. I have learned far more from teaching than
from sitting in a classroom! I've learned a great deal from other
"volunteer" instructors, and have a desire to pass it along.

I remember as a neophyte tuner calling a local technician to ask a
question, and I was treated like a mortal enemy! If he's a qualified
technician, he shouldn't have a thing to worry about "competition"! I'm
distressed when I hear talk of "the loss of the craftsmen" in the modern
world, and then realize it's due, in part, the curmudgeons who would
rather take their skills to the grave than pass them on.

John Minor
University of Illinois
jminor@uiuc.edu