Roger, that's revolting! Thanks so much!
Rita, My God, your beautiful harping kept me from actually passing out in the Ethical Society's basement loo! Though actually, I was just saving time by saying I had a touch of the flu. "Fraid I suffer from infrequent but diabolical migraines from time to time, and invariably they always strike at inopportune times..like halfway through a concert. Didn't feel much better the next day but nothing short of 4 (or 6, or 8) white horses would have prevented me from taking Joe Hickerson up on his generous offer of a visit to the Library of Congress. Wow! what a blast. Joe (who can find anything) asked if there was something specific I'd like to see or hear, and when I suggested a specific archival Huddie Ledbetter recording...bingo! There it was. What a nice man. Took us to a great restaurant called Radiccio's for lunch as well.

Bill, I am an autoharp fanactic, and a totally obsessed closet inventor. If I knew how I'd put a diagram of my modifications on your e-mail. They are a work in progress but some of the ideas seem to work very well. This started when I was trying to find an instrument that someone with pretty severe disabilities could play easily. Normal autoharp style may look easy but still requires a lot of co-ordination, and playing it on the lap usually means cross-handed. Having a cartridge that can hold only 2 chords (to begin with) and can be played on the lap (or in the arms) is much less daunting to a small child or someone who's convinced that they'll never be able to play anything. By adding one chord at a time it's less mysterious to them. I got a little (6 or 7) girl to get up on stage with me and play Skip to My Lou with only about 5 minutes practice recently, and I don't know who was more excited, me or her! What kind of felt are you using? I've been experimenting and currently am using a product called FELT-TAC. It ain't bad, but could be better.