In my November 23 post, "The new director for the past quarter-century," I wrote that I still think of my high school orchestra director's successor, Mr. J., as the new orchestra director even though he has been at the orchestra's helm since 1991.
I just read that Mr. J. is retiring at the end of the school year. This startled me because, after all, he's the new director. I mean, 1991...That was only 25 years ago. Recent hits, such as Mariah Carey's "Emotions," Bonnie Raitt's "Something To Talk About," Seal's "Crazy," R.E.M.'s "Shiny Happy People," and Amy Grant's "Every Heartbeat" were on the charts when Mr. J. took over. Calling them oldies is clearly premature. Why, I was enjoying all of five of those songs just recently on the dual cassette tape deck in my dorm room. As I listened, I read a broadcasting textbook that predicted compact discs would be a fast-growing format that radio stations would use more often. This prediction was accurate, as I attended a meeting at KCOU where the hot topic was how to allot shelf space for all the CDs that were starting to surpass the number of vinyl releases. After the meeting, I made sure to shake out the change from my desk drawers. I had to make sure I had enough money for dinner Sunday. I had to plan ahead because, after all, the dorms didn't serve dinner on Sundays, the credit union was closed then, and it was a college, so why would there have been an ATM nearby? After dinner, I typed and printed a paper for my
broadcasting class on my word processor. The evening news spotlighted some interesting national, international, and local events that I looked forward to reading more about in the next day's newspaper. After watching the news, I went for a walk, making sure to pick up a zine that fellow students wrote; after all, how else could their free verse and editorials attract an audience? Rumor had it that people might be able to reach others all over the world via computer, but of course, that was, um, way off in the future and, well...
...Admittedly, a smidgen of time has passed since 1991. Congratulations, Mr. J., on building and maintaining such a successful high school orchestra program. Here's hoping you have an enjoyable retirement.
