Mel Bay, who died six or seven years ago, grew up in the country. When he was a boy he wanted to learn to play an instrument, but there were no teachers around nor any books to help him. When he grew up he started a successful music store in Kirkwood, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis. He was an excellent guitarist, and salty old fellow. Remembering his problems in teaching himself to play, he decided to start publishing "how-to" books for struggling musicians. The venture was so successful that the Mel Bay Publishing Company in Pacific, Missouri now has a catalogue more than an inch thick, and adds twenty-five new titles a month to its list. The company is now run by Mel's son, Bill Bay, who's a excellent businessman and easy to work with as an author. How do I know? Because I'm currently working on a book of funny songs and stuff for him. My first book "Basic Melodic Autoharp Solos" has just gone out-of-print, but I have two other Mel Bay books in publication: "Scottish Airs and Ballads Arranged For The Autoharp" and "Childrens' Song Favorites" a collection of 75 traditional folk songs that work well with kids. (They should be available in England although I've not gotten any royalties yet from that side of the "pond".) Alex Usher