Dr. Jim Coleman

[Vanderhoofven]

Dear Friends, 

This note is way overdue.  You are probably aware that our good friend Jim
Coleman, Sr. is suffering from Guillain-Barre syndrome.  I believe that
this is a rare disease that attacks the central nervous system.  It starts
in the extremities (fingers and toes) and works its way toward the heart
and lungs.  It causes paralysis of the affected muscles.  

Jim's illness was caught early, at least before it paralyzed his lungs and
killed him.  We visited him in the hospital in Phoenix on the way back from
our trip to California.  At that time he was unable to walk unaided, and
does not have full use of his arms and legs.  We saw him work VERY hard at
the therapy sessions, and if anyone will recover from this, it is Jim,
because of his intense desire to recover.
 
Dr. Jim was in pretty good spirits when we saw him.  He has done a lot of
thinking, because there is not much else to do when you are in a hospital
bed and can't move.  He still plans to finish designing a 9' concert grand
that has been on his drawing board for 10 years!

We also went and spent the afternoon visiting his wife and daughter at
their home in Tempe.  I admired Dr. Jim's Golden Hammer award, and played
on three of the four pianos in his house (The one I didn't play was a small
spinet that needed a bunch of work and was not tuned.).  The Steinway grand
in the living room and the 7' Baldwin grand in the shop were in pretty good
tune.

If you wish to send notes or cards, his address is:

Jim Coleman, Sr.
4 W. Del Rio Drive
Tempe, AZ 85282

We hope that he recovers quickly and returns to tuning pianos and doing
what he loves to do, like teaching and being on the e-mail lists.

Sincerely,
David Vanderhoofven