And ode to Dr. Julian...

I was so honored to be a band member, even though it was for way too brief a time, under the direction of Dr. J. Julian at the University of Tennessee.

I don't know which of my memories I'm more fond of.

Perhaps it's when he made me feel welcome on my first day of band practice in 1991 as a sophomore transferee from Jacksonville State University when he picked up the microphone at Neyland Stadium and, teasing the guy next to me who kept getting out of step, announced over the loudspeaker for all of East Tennessee to hear, "Hey, just look to your left and watch that kid from Jax State, he knows what he's doing."

Or, maybe it was the way he always referred to me as, "You know, the bassoon player. The good one."

Or, maybe it was his weekly visit with his friends to the restaurant where I worked on Bearden Hill and he always asked for me to wait on him because I'd memorized the way he liked his martinis AND, after repeated chidings about serving him these martinis in non-martini glasses (we didn't have any at the restaurant), I finally broke down and brought one to the restaurant that I used ONLY for him (I even kept a note on it in case he came in when I wasn't there that said "Dr. Julian's Martini Glass").

What a great, caring and inspiring giant of the Southland.