Chiff & Fipple Dating Katie Holmes

Thanks to our friends Joanie Madden and Cherish the Ladies for providing forensic evidence that they played at the White House on St. Patrick's Day 2005.

Laura and I want to thank Cherish These Ladies for playin' today at the White House. We sure did enjoy all the tootin' and that Irish hoppin' around!

Over the past several days, many in the whistle and traditional music community have weighed in with their own thoughts on the passing of this sweet, generous man. Some did not even know Glenn but still felt compelled to add their thoughts and wishes. Others knew Glenn much better and have shared real personal insights. Here are some thoughts of just one more person that Glenn touched.

I first heard of Glenn Schultz back around 1985 when I bought a Thin Weasel in Rosewood. IN the days when pennywhistle meant Generation, I had never seen anything so beautiful, but had to think long and hard to part with the princely sum of $125. I had some technical questions about the whistle that the dealers couldn't answer, but they gave me Glenn's address in Troy MI (funny coincidence #1-- I lived in Troy NY at the time). I asked my questions and received the first memorable post card from Glenn quickly. It was typewritten because, as Glenn explained, his arthritic hands made writing difficult. It was hard for me to believe that arthritic hands had made that wondrous whistle! His style was terse and fragmented, but at the same time warm and oh so human. I found other excuses to write to Glenn and eagerly awaited his responses. Some of theme were hand written, his crabbed writing (even worse than a doctor's!) lending credence to his description of his arthritis. Sometimes I got a longer letter, and sometimes those letters contained poetry whose likes I'd never read. I confess that I'm not a major fan of poetry-- I find much of it too ethereal or vaguely symbolic. Glenn's poetry touched something deep within me though. He opened his soul in his poetry, laying it bare for any who cared to look. There was pain there, but also love, pride, silliness,joy, reverence, irreverence, confusion, certainty-- a rich mix of all that it means to be a human being. Many of those poems have ended up in Glenn's book "The Verser's Curse", which I wholeheartedly recommend for all who knew Glenn or wished they did.

Time went on and while I already loved the man dearly I never thought that I would ever go to Michigan to meet the Weasel face to face. But life takes many interesting twists and turns. In 1999, I sold a bass recorder on eBay to a woman from the suburbs of Detroit. To make a short story even shorter, we communicated, fell in love and realized that we had to be husband and wife. Funny coincidence #2-- her family lived only an hour away from Troy MI where Glenn still lived. On our first trip out to visit them, I just had to meet Glenn. I followed his directions ("turn right at the big-ass Baptist church...")and walked in the back door ("pet the dog as you come in..."). Glenn was sitting at the kitchen table, magnifying spectacles perched atop his head, glass of "cheap eye-talian wine" in front of him. He stood painfully, placed his hands on my shoulders and said "Paulie, yer real, man!". Then he kissed me ("on the lips, man, on the lips!") and we hugged for dear life. It was a moment not to be forgotten. We sat and drank that cheap eye-talian wine, and caught up on a lifetime. I shared my woes, and he shared his. I shared my joys and he did likewise. Glenn treated me to tunes, not only on whistle which he found difficult due to breathing problems, but on the harp, accordion, and classical guitar, all of which he played well. We talked on and on and by the time I dragged myself away hours later, I really felt I had found a soulmate.

One of the things I learned about Glenn is that he believed passionately that knowledge was meant to be shared and not hoarded jealously. This was so clearly demonstrated by how freely he shared his vast knowledge of machining in general and instrument making in particular. Glenn seemed to almost feel a compulsion to pass on what he had labored so hard to learn in the shop so that this knowledge would not die with him. We have heard from many whistle makers who learned from Glenn, who never once questioned or worried that this information would be used to advance a "competitor". I once voiced feelings to Glenn that I felt bad that my own efforts might cut into his whistle making business. He replied "Jaysus, man, if I didn't want yer to have it I wouldn't have given it to you. Do with it as you will!". And he meant it. He looked at every whistle I ever showed him with joy and the pride of a true teacher. He didn't stint on his criticism either . "It's all in the details" was one of his favorite sayings, which could be praise or criticism as the situation warranted.

Mine was a long distance apprenticeship supplemented with in-shop visits whenever we visited Michigan, and this brought out the genius of how Glenn taught. He doled out his teaching in little, pithy comments rather than long step by step descriptions. This always steered me in the right direction, without spoon feeding me, and left a lot of the process for me to discover on my own. At times this was frustrating to a newbie whistle maker eager to make his mark on the world, but ultimately it was a much more satisfying way of learning. Figuring things out on my own (often late on sleepless nights...) really made the work a part of me.

"we'll just have to address the chore step by step. i can tell you straight, man, i can do this in my sleep, but you must follow sequence perfectly, no big deal. holy shit are there ever gonna be words exchanged over this setup!! fear not, man, a piece of pi (3.1416) even a foot doctor can accomplish this, i promise. but perhaps you'd best be copying to paper all forthcoming instructions. you have a killer machine, man, you need only learn its functions and idiosyncrasies. tell you all i know, make any part you need. learn to love the odor of mineral spirits and machine oil. love to you and your woman also. she figures into this also.glenn."

Glenn was a deeply spiritual man, although perhaps not in the conventional way. He was fascinated by all faiths of the world and we often talked of this. I believe Glenn's idea of true worship of God was being the very best you knew how at whatever you did, be it whistle making, writing poetry or whatever moved you creatively and passionately. I would like to close with a poem by Glenn from The Verser's Curse, used by permission of Glenn's family. Go in peace, man, knowing you've left the world a better place.

Luvya, Paul