I was saddened when Hoot phoned me a couple of days ago to tell me the sad news about Bill. When I lived in London Hoot, Bill and myself spent a lot of time playing music together. Bill was immensely talented, though he was not the sort of man to boast about his skills. Bill visited America in the mid '80's (I think that was the date) and met up with fiddler Kahle Brewer, who had recorded with Ernest Stoneman in the 1920's. Kahle so liked Bill that he invited him to stay with him and the two spent several very happy days together playing and talking about music. Bill was on a high for months after he returned home to London. His death is a great loss to the music scene.