(re-posting from FB)
Next week, I am so thrilled to begin doing sth that I've been wanting to do for some time. Teach music. Teach kids to play the ukulele. And I'm getting paid to do it. I can't imagine a path that would have lead to me this point without my three ukulele heroes, mostly whom I've admired from afar.
One of them watched as what was perhaps the best known worldwide community of ukulele players, a place he was in many ways the leading figure of, it splintered and built walls. Kicked out scores of long time members for no good reason. For me, that community - my community - is gone. Loudon Wainwright famously said that if all children were issued ukuleles at birth, we'd have world peace. Yeah, no.
My second ukulele hero passed away of natural causes at far too young an age in 2023. An artist, a band-leader, a creator of unsurpassed wit and the wisdom of seeing the absurdity of this unkind world. Rest in peace, my Duke.
My third ukulele hero, a medical doctor who proudly wore sparkly costumes and his unique individuality without worry of judgment. He advocated for freedom and lived his life freely. Over time, however, sometimes people see the world in a different way. The uke player who mocked creationists, preached love and cannabis began allying himelf with the reactionaries which are everpresent in our rapidly changing and confusing modernity. Any progress society makes towards a more progressive negotiated moral order will, like a force of nature, create its antithesis. It's to be expected - but still, it's not easy seeing a hero get washed away in that maga wave.
