To the Editor:
The column written by June Sturz, “in Tune with June,” January 6, was interesting as always. But personally brought back family memories to me of long ago.
My older sister Eleanor who has long since passed away was a graduate of the Philadelphia Conservatory/School of Music and filed our home with music to everyone’s satisfaction. And what does one do with this education?
In most situations, they either teach or give lessons.
And so it was with Eleanor. Living during the Depression Eleanor taught piano, going to the homes of young children and rewarded with 50 cents a lesson. Plus in some instances it required paying for the transportation to get to the students’ homes. Such was life in the early ‘30s!
But the family got to enjoy Eleanor playing in our home, and June’s column brought back an incident that I recall frequently.
My parents had gone to bed, and my sisters and I remained in the living room listening to the radio. Eleanor, the oldest of the three girls, selected the station.
It was approaching midnight, and my father called down to us, “Come to bed!. It’s approaching midnight!”
Eleanor answered Daddy by saying, “Not yet! Benny Goodman comes at midnight, and we want to hear him!”
Benny Goodman, it was a name few people knew but to our family he was a gem.
And so it is. It also applies to June’s column.
How some artists don’t have to promote themselves. They have a gift to share with everyone, and we are all here to promote it.
Enjoy it and live with it!
RUTH PREMINGER