The last time I saw Gamble, I was opening for him at the Earl in Chicago. We'd known each other for 10 years or so, and it was always a great pleasure to hang with such a sage, courtly gentleman. The Earl was a 4'o'clock bar, and on Saturday night they could stay open an extra hour. That meant that there was a 3rd show on that night. The sun would be coming up by the time you got out of there, and Gamble and I walked up to the coffeshop a the hotel on the corner for breakfast. I can still remember, we were talking about modes of travel, and Gamble laid down his fork, looked me straight in the eye and pronounced in that delightful Florida drawl, "Mark, the train is the most civilized method of travel man has ever devised!"

By the way, I hear that his daughter lives here in Eugene, Oregon, where I live these days. Anyone out there in 'Cat land know how to get in touch with her?

Mark Ross