Well I was 16, in high school, a new one, and I was playing sports as well as getting acquainted with all the new kids. Everybody else had a car, or so it seemed, and I wanted one too. Dad said that's fine, buy yourself one. My Uncle Smitty said "come to work for me and you can buy one soon". Since Dad didn't offer help and Smitty did, I went to work for him, after all I had been doing things with him in his piano shop since I was a lot younger and the shop was not foreign ground for me.....besides... I could work at my own schedule. :-) I dropped out of high school short of graduation, for reasons other than cars, and started working full time with Smitty. This period started my real education in piano work/repair/rebuilding/tuning and lasted for aprox 18 months. Then I decided to join the Army and get that obligation behind me. When I finished my first tour and came home all I wanted to do was rest, take it easy and possibly travel around the country. Remember this was when Hippies were still called 'beatniks', or 'bohemians' and the phrases "hippie" and "flower child" had yet to be coined. One day Smitty showed up at my apartment,took me downtown, and introduced me to the local Steinway dealer as the dealers' newest employee! I really didn't know what to say but.......... since the dealer knew me and acted so pleased that "I"!!! had decided to come to work for him......and I had no firm plans at the moment, I figured why not. There are other twists and turns to the tale but basically that is how I got started in the piano teching business, and I am still learning it. Jim Bryant (FL)
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