I returned from a book reading and signing in Washington, DC on April 5 in time to play the children’s concert with the Plainfield Symphony over the weekend. My signing was at the fabulous Candida’s World of Books on 14th Street and attended by a large group among whom was my old friend from the Annapurna Circuit trek, Ron Pollack (no relation to Jon), head of Families USA, and Charity Goodman, an anthropologist for the GAO. I also was able to meet with Peter Beach, who was on my International Advisory Board of Music Education for the Handicapped (MEH) until 1986 and, in his capacity as Director of the Office of Veterans Affairs and Military liaison during the first Gulf War was heavily involved in epidemiological research on WMD’s and their terrible effect on our troops after we blew them all up. Prior to that he did 20 years of research on Agent Orange.
I was also blessed with a visit in the home of Judy Wyman and John Kelly, and their beautiful daughters Leah and Sarah. It’s always a treat to see Judy, who, with her mother, Sylvia, was part of the Peterson/Wyman self-appointed climbing camp (christened Camp ManWyPeson) which scaled the Presidentials with backpacks in the early ’70’s and ’80’s.
