Dear Colleagues,
How delightful to follow this conversation concerning Niles and various personal (and not so personal) accounts of him. I can not add much of a directly personal nature since he passed away the year before I moved to Lexington. However, I live very much in the shadow of his life, about 8 minutes walk up the road from his home, Boothill Farm on Boone Creek. Another walk of 10 minutes up the hill would take me to St. Hubert's Episcopal Church where he carved the front doors and where he is buried. I have been traipsing through his papers and music and books for 25 years now. I was also a close friend of his widow, the lovely and remarkable Rena Lipetz Niles. so, while I never met him, I have been surrounded by him.

I will note several responses to queries that have come through this thread.
1) I am finishing the biography this year under a sabbatical spent at Hindman Settlement School. I expect the book will be available in the Spring 2005 catalogue from the University of Kentucky.
2) The Niles dulcimers were not really dulcimers at all, but Jean's use of the term "Nilesulmiers" comes much closer to fact. They were Niles's adaptation of things he saw and heard, recast to suit HIS personal vision. very much in the way that he recast bits of folk material to suit his concept of what a song should be. The instruments are on display at the John Jacob Niles Center for American Music at the University of Kentucky. we also have some interesting "traditional" dulcimers on display that Niles collected. One very inventive one was crafted at Beach Moountain according to some of Niles's specifications (6 strings, larger scale" by one of the Hicks Family. Niles did not play the instruments in a "traditional" fashion at all, so the traditional lap dulcimer was of little use to him--he required the sound of these "lute" and "cello" like instruments to sustain his pedal point drone that sparsely accompanied his voice. The influence was really tympany heard when he was a child singing with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in Louisville.
3) I would question just one statement of Jean's (who is really my source for all that is good and right and true in the world). She noted that Niles had not seen the dulcimer afore he came to Viper to visit the Ritchie Family. Certainly, his visit (and there is a good picture of Balis Ritchie and JJN taken by Doris Ulmann) was very influential in JJN's career, but he had seen and played (and even owned) a traditional dulcimer long ago back in Jefferson County when he was just a teen ager. He was not using it to accompany himself at the time, though, since he was mostly a pianist.

Again, many thanks for allowing me to join your discussion concerning John Jacob Niles. I really appreciate the perspective that you all bring to this forum.