Category Archives: Family Connections

Posts that are relevant to my family.

A Valentine for the Teacher

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We have looked at the cover art of The Handel Letters, and I have talked a little about why I chose to have illustrations at the head of each chapter. I’ll say more about those illustrations at another time and also explain the subtitle of the book—A Biographical Conversation. I warned you that I would be moving through the book from beginning to end, picking out things to comment on in this blog. So here I would like to say more about the page that follows the title page and the copyright and ISBN information—the dedication page.

There you learn that the book is “dedicated to the memory of Mr. Cloyde Slater and to all who have worked to keep Handel and his music alive, in our ears and in our hearts.” Thankfully, there are many, many people who have over the years kept Handel’s music alive, but I chose to mention one particular person—Cloyde Slater, my high school choir teacher and the director of the community chorus in my home town of Huntington, Indiana. Since this is Valentine’s Day, this is my little valentine to the teacher—just like those special “for my teacher” paper valentines always included in elementary school packages.

Cloyde Slater was a small man who always wore a suit. He had a good sense of humor and, obviously, a great deal of patience or he would never have lasted as a high school choir teacher. He served as organist and choir director at the Bethel United Methodist Church in Huntington until he died in 1993. He was born in Huntington in 1912, attended Manchester College, earning a BA in Music, and taught for many years at Huntington High School. During the 1960s and 1970s he directed the community chorus as it offered the annual performance of Handel’s Messiah. That was how I came to love Handel’s music—through Cloyde Slater’s inspiring instruction and leadership.

But he did much more for me than introduce me to Handel. I was a good student in high school, particularly enjoying the science classes, French, and literature. But my one extra-curricular or fun subject was choir. It met every day, and I enjoyed it immensely. I also sang with the Swing Choir and the Girls’ Sextet. In the context of daily choir practice, Cloyde Slater taught me nearly everything I know about how to sing. Because I was basically shy, it was both a challenge and a blessing to be required to sing—out loud—every day. I don’t believe I could ever have become a teacher and stand in front of a classroom if I had not learned first to sing with some confidence in front of other people. So, I have much to thank Cloyde Slater for.

I was in high school during the early 1960s, graduating in 1965. It was the folksong era, and I was a fan of Joan Baez and Judy Collins. The seeds were sewn for a later interest in folklore, obviously. My senior year Cloyde Slater asked me to sing a solo at our final concert. I had taught myself guitar, and I was both thrilled and scared to take the stage alone. But I made it through the concert—sang “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” for my dad—one of his favorites. I also tried my hand a writing a few songs. I’ll attach one here that I wrote then—”Last Barrel Down.” I sometimes wonder what in the world was in my head as an 18-year-old. Ah well, I hope you enjoy it. Some friends helped me put it on a record (you know, vinyl) while I was at college. I called the album First Time Ever—how original, right? In any case, thanks, Cloyde Slater, for introducing me to Handel and for encouraging me to sing.

Book Covers and Illustrations

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Books and Illustrations

February 6, 2018

I will guess that the first thing you will notice about The Handel Letters: A Biographical Conversation is the cover. I opted for the matte finish paperback cover, and I am glad I did. It feels and looks good—a good choice, I think. CreateSpace has various templates for covers, and Mr. Humphrey, in his CreateSpace for Beginners, discusses these templates, admitting that he uses them 95% of the time. Such cookie cutter covers were one thing I really wanted to avoid in creating my book, so I chose to ask my daughter, Alexis Stahl, to create the cover and upload it to the CreateSpace site. This was one of the last things done before giving CreateSpace the go-ahead for publishing, but as the cover is likely the first thing readers will see, let me comment on it here.

Alexis Stahl has a BA in Art from Tulane University (Newcomb College) and an MFA in Art from the University of Cincinnati. Files for the front, back, and spine of the Handel book were hers to design and adapt to the required sections and pages on CreateSpace’s website. Of course, she ran everything by me beforehand, but I was so glad to turn that task over to her. Quite aside from the technical skills involved in uploading the files correctly, her real challenge was in creating the drawings that would serve as chapter head illustrations and as images arranged on the cover of the book. Using some of the pictures from the book interior on the cover was her idea, and I think it was an excellent one.

I will talk another time about some of the individual chapter head illustrations, but for now I want to draw your attention to how she created a pleasing and meaningful collage as a front cover. There needed to be a certain amount of symmetry, with images of similar shape and size lined up on either side and down the middle. In the middle there are long, horizontal figures, and on either side there are images of roughly similar shape and size included opposite each other. Prominent, in the center, and in bolder print, is a thematically important drawing of a pair of white- gloved hands holding an old-fashioned sealed letter. The seal is in red and matches the only other red-colored writing on the cover—the title and author’s name. Against a cream-colored background, all of the grey-toned drawings suggest ideas to be found in the book and simultaneously create a pleasing picture in and of themselves. I applaud Alexis on creating a unique and attractive cover.

You might wonder what kind of art background would be influential in leading to the cover Alexis created. I am pretty sure much of the creativity that went into creating the cover is simply part of my daughter’s natural talent coming to the fore—no undue maternal pride there, right? However, you will find it interesting, no doubt, to know that her specialization in studying art was in printmaking. I have nearly twenty of her prints of various sorts—abstract, realistic, or thematic—framed and displayed upon my walls.   But I have one of her artworks that clearly underscores the skill and aesthetic perspective necessary for creating the cover of the Handel book. And that is a small hand-made book Alexis created some few years ago—a hand-stitched book, 4.5 inches by 8.5 inches, with a black cloth cover and marbled inside and end papers. She agreed to let me share with you a page from the book, but please do respect her ownership of the image. It is, after all, part of a larger unique piece of art. Here is the page I’ve chosen to share:

I plan to write more about book illustrations next time and to consider the genre or category that seems most appropriate for The Handel Letters. Meanwhile, thank you for dropping by.