Klarinet Archive - Posting 000715.txt from 2004/08

From: "dnleeson" <dnleeson@-----.net>
Subj: [kl] OK everyone. Good deed time
Date: Thu, 26 Aug 2004 21:34:26 -0400

My friends, the great clarinet player of the Metropolitan Opera,
Herb Blayman, is in a retirement home in Raleigh, NC and he is
not well. His wife, Peg, died about a year ago and Herb has gone
downhill since. He is restricted to a wheelchair.

Herb got his job as principal clarinet with the Met in 1950 and
he kept the position for about 28 years. His previous job was as
a tenor sax player in a jazz band in NYC and before that he held
the position of principal clarinet in Salt Lake. He was a
popular, all round musician in the NY scene and often did
jingles. He also wrote jingles and was a dynamite cocktail piano
player.

What I want from everyone with $1 for a "Hello" card and $0.37
for a postage stamp is to send Herb a letter. He won't be able
to read it, but his daughter will read it for him and to him. I
sent him a copy of my book and was told that he recognized my
name. For whatever good it did him, I'm happy.

We were colleagues and friends together for many years.

Herb also taught at Interlochen music camp and Schifrin was one
of his many students.

His heart weakness, his diabetes, his prostate cancer, and
whatever else is ailing him have combined with a failing memory
to make the quality of his life poorer. His cousin, David Raskin
who wrote Laura, passed away only a week or so ago.

Herb had a strong but now has a failing body.

Mail a card to Herb Blayman, Mayview Convalescent Home, 513
Whitaker Mill Road, Raleigh, NC 27608-2699. It will be a good
deed if you improve the quality of Herb's life, even for a
minute.

It was Herb who introduced me to Hugo Burghauser at a performance
of Salome one evening, and I wrote a short story about Burghauser
that was published in several journals including the double reed
society magazine.

Herb lived in Tenafly, NJ and we would would ride into the Met
together. His home was a NJ treasure, built before the American
revolution. He retired to Belen, NM where my wife and I visited
him on many occasions.

Let him know you are thinking of him while he is still alive,
please.

Dan Leeson
DNLeeson@-----.net

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