I met Rod at a musicians' convention and subsequently took voice lessons from him for 10 years or so, until he left for the Philippines. I had dabbled in singing before then, but never "really" sang until Rod helped me to find my voice! I will always be grateful to him for that. I learned so much more than vocal skills at my lessons. I learned about gardening, about African violets, about cooking, about house design, about meditation and centering myself. I also became a much better organist for having taken these lessons! As I prepared my church Christmas music this year, the one year anniversary of his death, I could hear Rod saying to me, "when you play that - NON - LEGATO, PLEASE!! There! Now... doesn't that just bring the music to life??? And the phrase - think of a violin, how the bow moves, the shape of the phrase...!" You changed my life, Rod, more than you ever knew!