How I Killed Two People with my Accordion

This is a four-part story.  Be patient.  It shows that joy and grief, life and death, are only two sides of the same coin.

I was corresponding by email with Larry, complimenting him on his great and broad taste in music, ranging from the thirties to contemporary.   We sent notes back and forth for a while about various artists.  He asked if I knew Art Van Damme.  I didn't.  He explained that Van Damme was from his town in Illinois.  Van  Damme was the only person he knew that played jazz on an accordion.  Van Damme is GREAT!  How I wish I could have played the accordion like that!   Larry explained:

"In a nutshell, Art Van Damme lived in Maywood, Ill., a west suburb of Chicago.  Was a "studio" band for the NBC affiliate, then WNBQ.  Was on with all the locally produced shows in the 40's and 50's.  Owned a music studio in Arlington heights, Ill., backed-up many singers on records, but was not credited with all of them.  My father worked at NBC Chicago, thus my knowledge of that generation.   I have no idea when he died, or any further history of him.  I know it is few and far between when an accordion is used for other than polkas. Usually billed as a quintet on record liners."

Larry's business is transferring home movies to videotape.  If you have any old movies, transfer them now before they deteriorate any  further; you'll enjoy them later on and so will future generations.  I'm still trying to track down old family photos I remember, to post on this website, and many have disappeared.  Preserve these memories; see Tape to Video for Larry's website.

The discussion on accordions reminded me of my own experiences with the instrument, so on to the second part of this story:  

When my father resigned from his counseling position at the Back to the Bible Broadcast Company (See Who Do We Owe, Chili Weather & Florida Cuisine), he headed for Florida with only a dream and a prayer.  His mother lived just outside of Tampa, and my mother's uncle, Theo Tupper, was a builder in Sarasota, just an hour to the south. 

Dad was convinced that the Southern Baptists were entirely too liberal in some respects (smoking and drinking, for instance) and felt he could start a new church with higher standards and people would come.  But to hedge his bets, since accordions had suddenly become the instrument of choice (God only knows why) he signed up to sell, repair and teach the accordion.   Mother taught piano and played the organ and piano for church services, Dad played piano also, a little less proficiently, and had taught clarinet and saxophone.  I played any number of instruments, was taking advanced studies in classical piano and had no intentions of ever teaching anyone!  ...More >>>