Yes, he was a wonderful sweet man. Misunderstood by the masses. His music comforted many. Pity about that “goat thing”.
Hello Keith Martin,
It has been quite some time since I last visited “Chiff”. I do not have much free time these days. Taking on new things in my life. Yes, I got rid of my web-site & all else on purpose. It was the only way to remove myself from the music scene.
Anyhow, I’ll be happy to address a few things that you have mentioned regarding my whereabouts.
First off, I am truly very sorry that your grandfather passed away 
. I lost both of my parents early on so I do understand the deep emotional feelings that are involved. That’s the true reason for the title of my first album, “Tears Of The Forest”. I have had a very hard & sad life. The only outlet I have is music to express that feeling inside.
“The Parting” seems to have really appealed to you in a deep & personal way. I am happy that you enjoy that track & the c/d. In response to your “thank you”, I will gladly say, “you are more than welcomed 
!” My hope is that you will soon recover from the lost of your dear grandfather.
Regarding the music. Yes, I have given up music for a complete yr. I have had some medical issues of my own & my doctor’s tell me to take a yr off from music as this has caused much stress in my life. It’s fun stuff but at times some things that you have a passion for can back fire later on in life. I need a long break. It’s really painful playing the whistles.
There was one good thing that I am really very proud of. Someone used my entire cd for a pbs special that will be airing soon. Not to sure of the date. These days instead of performance I try to license my music to various people who contact me for licensing work.
My second cd & Low Whistle dvd is still on hold until I can beat this medical problem. I have not played for atleast 5 months. I have made progress because of that. Thank goodness!
It was nice chating w/you Keith. Take good care.
Talbert St. Claire
P.S. I would like to say hello to ALL OF YOU on the board. Sorry if some on the board were offended by my post’s in the past. I can guarantee that if you were to meet me in person I am far different from any on-line discussions .
My very best of wishes to you all.
-Thanks
Keith, sorry to hear about your grandpa.
Tal, I hope you beat your medical problem. Can you tell us what the title of the PBS special is?
Please take care, Tal. I’ll be thinking of you.
Congratulations on the PBS special. It’s clear that the music you’ve recorded touches people.
Best wishes,
Jerry
Talbert:
Thanks for the kind words. I hope for you a quick recovery from your illness. I will stay tuned to PBS.
Keith
What a gracious post. Thanks and best wishes for a speedy recovery.
Dale
Get better Tal-- I can’t imagine having an illness that would prevent the playing of music. Must be a terrible thing.
Dale, Jerry, Keith, Chas & Paul,
Thanks very much for your thoughts! I appreciate it .
P.S. Regarding the PBS special. It’s a video that touches on life through the practice of Yoga. The camera man has won an Emmy for his previous work. I almost forgot that my music was in there once I saw the film on dvd. The music was only the tip of the iceberg. There is so much more to the film than the music. It’s nice seeing everything come together as a whole.
If possible, I will try to get the date it will air early January 2006.
Never mind the music because his filming was so unique. The back drops from the state of Arkansas was really appealing. I never knew that Arkansas was so beautiful!! Infact, once I get better this is the guy that will film the Low Whistle Tutorial for me. I was supposed to have flown out to Arkansas this past Oct to film my dvd but it’s on hold until next summer.
The crew had a premier for the film several months ago but because of my condition I could not attend. I am glad that they all had such a great time.
Keep the faith C&F. If you have your health then you are very fortunate indeed. 
Best wishes & take care guys.
Hi Tal,
I tend to come off as a complete jerk on the board. Problem is, I’m not that much different in reality.
I’ve had tendonitis from whistle playing. That I can control somewhat by relaxing my grip and reducing the amount of time I spend playing. And it’s looking like I’ll have to quit trying to learn how to play rolls.
The tinnitus is another issue, but that’s slowly coming under control…(protect your ears, folks).
Is it tendonitis? (I hope you don’t mind my asking).
Tom.
Hi Tom, it’s tendinitis.
The latin term is tendo, tendinis, the latter being the genitiv, from which all other endings are derived from (like tendinitis in english).
The ending -itis means ‘inflammation’ in the medical terminology.
best, Amar.
Hi Tal,
I was sad to hear you’ve stopped playing for now, but I am glad your medical problems are improving.
I was also glad you enjoyed your visit to Arkansas! I live in the Ozarks, and even though Conway itself is sort of flat, you can’t drive 5 minutes out of town any direction without being in the middle of some really pretty country. Right now the leaves are changing and the colors are spectacular. There are old rolling green hills, the remains of ancient mountains that vast amounts of time has smoothed out and greened over.
Arkansas is one of the best-kept secrets in the country: much of it is still beautiful, clean, and unspoiled. Somtimes it’s easy to take that for granted, when you live in the middle of it and see it every day. Then you get reminded by someone new to it just what a nice place it really is, and you start noticing it all over again.
Best wishes to you, and thanks again for making me remember how lovely these old hills really are.
–James
P.S. Here’s some pictures from a vacation we took a few years ago, starting at Hot Springs, and just sort of meandering around up Route 7:
Hi Tom,
It’s actually several things.
1- I have developed some bone spurs in my neck & back area that are shooting intense pain to my hands. I literally have to drop the whistle after a minute of playing. It’s really touch at the moment.
2- I also have something called, “Candida”!! A number of people are getting this strange illness.
3- Along with “Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS)”. The fatigue is starting to subside but the pain is at times unbearable.
Hi James!
The pictures are awesome. Thanks for sharing them A lovely place!
P.S. If you all have anything that perhaps would help my condition please feel free to drop a message. I would be really greatful!
The strange thing is that even though I have these major issues I am still quite happy at times. I need to stay positive.
Thanks
Tal
Hi Tal. Sorry to hear about your illness. Have you tried accupuncture? If you can find a good Chinese Accupuncturist I believe that they coud do a lot for you. My wife has had some chronic health problems and had great success with accupuncture - it might be worth a shot.
All the best.
Gerry
Hi Tal,
It’s obviously more than a little tendinitis. I’ve known people who’ve come through chronic fatigue and were fine afterwards, so there’s hope. And I know what you mean about happiness. The human spirit is odd at times. In circumstances where one would expect happiness there’s none, and in tough circumstances there’s often happiness.
(BTW Omar, it’s “Genitive” with a “e” on the end.)
True, thanks whitemare.
One more thing: www.dictionary.com defines “Tendonitis” as “Variant of tendinitis.”
Hi Tal,
Mi mother had symptoms pretty much like yours a couple of years ago, she is better now… I myself have been ill for quite a long time several years ago, but I’m great now. It’s my experience that many times the illness is just our body talking to ourselves. I’ll do my best to explain myself but I find it quite difficult because english is not my primary language.
I found that the illness disappears (just like that) when you stop seeing it like something bad; when you start accepting it like… let’s say, a “characteristic” (sorry, can’t think of a better word). Everything we have, everything we are, is a gift. It’s not a right, it’s a gift. By the time I started looking everything this way, all my illness just disappeared. I had back problems, but right now I feel great (sleeping on the floor over a thin futon did the trick for me). I had anemia and low pressure problems, now I’m just fine (just started doing some exercise). I had kidney problems, one of my kidneys works quite bad… still have that problem, but it did got a lot better, I don’t take any more medications for it…the exercise helped I guess
Of course it didn’t happen in one day, it took some time, but the “decision” of not seeing the problems like problems took less than a second. It’s not actually a decision, it’s something like a “positive let go”. I was so depressed… and one day I just thought “Ok, that’s it, I won’t fight anymore, I’ll just accept whatever happens to me, because it must be a reason for it”, just after feeling that, I felt a big knot being untied inside me, and slowly but steadily everything got a lot better, in all aspects.
So I hope you’ll start seeing your problems, your illness, like a chance to reborn, like a chance to stop and start again. For the Spring and Summer to exist, there must be a Fall and a Winter before. There’s nothing wrong with it, it is beautiful in a different way. It’s something completely natural, so… relax, enjoy this time you’re spendening in a different way than before. It’s like the night, you have to sleep to be able to rise again tomorrow, we’re just talking about a different time range. And as a consecuense, when you start playing the whistle again, your new tunes will become even deeper
Best wishes,
wonderful
Talbert, I am a great believer in exercise and diet. I had a heart attack 2 1/2 years ago. I was 80 pounds overweight and did no physical exercise to speak of. My ejection fraction following the heart attack was 18%. Following the bypass surgery I began to do a lot of walking. I started lifting weights. I began to eat a very low fat and very low sodium diet. I lost 50 pounds and went from being able to bench press about 20 pounds to being able to bench press 300 pounds. My ejection fraction now measures between 45% and 50 % which is just about normal. I know this is not your problem but I believe many illnesses can be controlled by exercise, diet and following your doctors advice. I hope you can find what works for you. As you know I am not much of a new age type guy but I do like your playing very much. I hope you can return to playing soon.
Ron
Ron,
Good advice.
Tom.