 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Hank Lehrer
Date: 2011-10-17 00:16
Hi Everyone,
Recently, it occurred to me that I have not seen posts from our old pal, Don Berger so I tracked him down. So, for the old-timers on this Board, I'll share parts of recent emails from him; he has given me permission to do so.
I've taken just a few small editorial liberties with his words but have tried to preserve Don's meanings. He said:
"TKS for regards message; I'm not bad except for 92 years, although modern communication abilities, a little failing eyesight plus not my usual comprehension make life a little trickier. Am still playing Bb sop and trying to remember how to make an old Evette alto sax play well so I can entertain my fan club of "fellow inmates" at a fine retirement home in Bartlesville OK. They seem to like old ballads etc some as new as the Beatles and 'cool jazz." I try to play a few lines from "sentimental' classics of Debussey Faure, Ravel, etc, but sometimes run out of gas. Say hello to our friends,
It was great , Don"
Don indicated that although every one of us is in his thoughts, he does not "feel capable of carrying on much email conversation." I thought some of you might enjoy hearing about him.
HRL
Post Edited (2011-10-17 03:06)
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Author: Tobin
Date: 2011-10-17 00:21
Thanks for the update Hank! Best wishes to Don and his amazing shorthand clarinet board posts!
James
Gnothi Seauton
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Author: JJAlbrecht
Date: 2011-10-17 01:41
That was nice of you to pass this on, Hank. Please give Don our best!
Jeff
“Everyone discovers their own way of destroying themselves, and some people choose the clarinet.” Kalman Opperman, 1919-2010
"A drummer is a musician's best friend."
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Author: CarlT
Date: 2011-10-17 13:41
In my searching of the archives in order to improve my playing, I've read many of Don's posts and seemingly got to know him pretty well from them.
He's given us much good advice in the past, and I'm sorry that we are not currently privileged with his words of wisdom.
I believe Don is one the happier and more pleasant people in this world, and I wish him the best. Thanks, Hank, for updating us.
CarlT
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2011-10-17 13:46
Thanks for doing the investigative work, Dr. Hank! Please pass along my best to Don -- he is quite a character.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2011-10-17 14:06
Pass on my regards to Don, tell him I'm very grateful for him as I wouldn't have known so much about the various Loomis keywork and mechanism patents had he not posted the links to them.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Bill G
Date: 2011-10-18 02:03
Thanks, Hank, for this info and also for your other contributions to this "family". Don at 92 is an inspiration to me at 84. Bill Gamble
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Author: kenb
Date: 2011-10-18 03:46
My very best regards to Don B.
I miss his posts, particularly the ones containing information recovered from the murky depths of the patent office
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Author: Hank Lehrer
Date: 2011-10-18 12:37
Hi Everyone,
I'm planning to do a quick cut & paste of your great comments and remembrances very soon; I'll send them to Don. He was a great resource. Ken, you are so right about Don and the "murky depths of the patent office."
HRL
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Author: Dan Oberlin ★2017
Date: 2011-10-18 17:22
Don Berger and his wife Lynn were very good friends of my parents. Additionally, Don and my father both worked for Phillips Petroleum: Don was a chemist who advised some of the patent attorneys, while my father was a patent attorney whose
work centered around petrochemistry. Don was certainly responsible for my interest in the clarinet. As a kid, I spent plenty of time at the Berger’s house. I remember watching Don working on a clarinet and being fascinated by all of his instruments: not only the clarinets with their beautiful black wood and shiny keys, but also the saxophones and Don’s oboe. (The clarinet was Don’s first love, but the local symphony needed an oboist and so Don began a relationship with, as he and others put it, the ill wind that nobody blows good.) A few years later, when I joined that local symphony, Don provided my transportation home after rehearsals. Don was a great source of information and encouragement for a kid in a small town in northeastern Oklahoma who was trying to learn a little about the clarinet. He was, and I’m sure still is, a person remarkably enthusiastic about life in general and music in particular. A couple of years ago, having gotten reacquainted with Don through this BB, I made a trip back to Bartlesville to visit my parents’ old friends. I found Don, on the cusp of his 90th birthday, to be in surprisingly good physical health and, mentally, just as sharp as a tack. I’ve missed his BB postings in the last year or so.
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Author: GBK
Date: 2011-10-18 18:03
Hank,
Tell Don that I said hi. Every time I write a limerick, I think back on how much he always enjoyed them. He was probably my only fan. 
...GBK
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Author: jbutler ★2017
Date: 2011-10-22 01:40
I knew Don and his wife left Bartlesville to live near his son in OKC a few years back. I guess he's back in B'ville. My mother lives there and everytime I'd visit I'd go by Don's house a visit if he had the time. I guess the next time I'm up to visit with my mother I'll try and locate him. Great guy!
John Butler
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