I was born in Cass City MI on June 2, 1956, at 11:51 AM. My father, James Quick, managed a Farm Bureau elevator; my mother, Shirley Leinweber Quick, was a housewife. We all lived in Akron, another small town on the thumbnail of Michigan's mitten, near the other small towns where my parent's families had farmed for several generations. Several years later, we were joined by my sister, Robin.
When I was 5, my father was transferred, and we moved to Lexington MI, a resort town on the shore of Lake Huron, population about 800. We lived in a subdivision of cottages, virtually deserted in winter. But the summers were glorious! Each day at 10 AM we would walk the half-mile to the beach and swim until 5 (usually but not always breaking for lunch). There were woods full of blackberries and green apples, where my father built us a magnificent treehouse. (By this time Dad had gotten involved in a combination business of a contracting crew, lumberyard, and farm machinery dealership. When the partnership dissolved, he got the contracting company.)
I had many dealings with the medical profession in those days. In 2nd grade, I was hit by a car after getting off the school bus; this fractured skull, right femur, and right humurus. I was under treatment for allergies. I also had my Achilles tendons stretched in 5th grade; until then, I always walked on my toes.
My parents had given up on popular music, and had not yet discovered "mood music", so I was brought up on a diet of light classics, though when I was very young, my taste ran to polkas, cha-chas, and Allan Sherman records. My first classical record was the 1812 Overture, from an offer on the Quaker Puffed Wheat box. followed shortly thereafter by Tchaikovsky's Symphony #6. I had always sung for family and schoolmates; at this time, I took up the cornet. I had always been an autodidact (this was before Talented and Gifted programs existed), so it seemed natural to read the music article in the World Book and begin composing in 6th grade on hand-ruled notebook paper. Until this time, my great passion had been science, particularly electronics.
When I entered Jr. High, we moved to the other side of town, into our own house, which was in a perpetual state of being built. We had a huge garden, and an even bigger woods nearby. Puberty happened, and my long slow training in courtship began. I was not a member of any clique in high school, but got along well with most. During the summers, I began working on my father's construction crew, which continued through half of college and occasionally thereafter.
College Days and Paying Dues
In 1974, I entered the University of Michigan School of Music, majoring first in theory and later in music history. I had all but missed the Revolution; the Blues and Jazz Festival in exile and a teaching assistant strike in '74, and the McDonalds Puke-in of '75 were its last vestiges. In that year, my first election, I voted a straight Human Rights Party ticket.
I graduated in 1978 without the slightest clue as to how to earn a living in music, and my one application to grad school stumbled on incomplete paperwork. I did restaurant, retail, and industrial temporary gigs while living with my first lover; then I met Cynthia Milner, whom I married on November 3, 1979 (the day before the Iranian hostages were seized.). I obtained a position at Refrigeration Research, a factory in Brighton MI, where I ran a machine that cut steel tubing into pieces. I got involved in early music performance; I was a charter member of the Historic Brass Society. I wrote on the side, mostly for the desk drawer. I also ran twice for State Representative as a Libertarian.
Cindy and I divorced in 1983. I moved to Ypsilanti (the low-rent district of Washtenaw County), and kept on working, seemingly incapable of leaving the factory, until I got a hernia, which was easily fixed and gave me enough unemployment to find a new job. Then I sold mutual funds for First Investors' Corp. (out of the frying pan, into the fire), and did more temping.
Finally I left the Ann Arbor area. Impetus was escape from a woman (no, I'm not going to tell that story to strangers!) and a need for a fresh start. I had personal and musical contacts in Cleveland (most notably Dr. Ross Duffin), and had found the town pleasant when I visited. So I landed in Cleveland in October of 1986. I had wanted to live near University Circle, but couldn't afford Little Italy or the Heights, so I took a 4th floor walkup in an aging apartment on Lamont (E.97th and Chester). The building is no longer standing. In the spring, I moved to a 2nd floor apartment in Tremont. which cost me $135 a month. I stayed there until my marriage.
I soon ran through my savings, and went back to temping, complicated by leaving time free for the CWRU Early Brass Ensemble. Never had I seen so many doing such horrible work for so little money. After a period of running punch presses with illiterates, I got a job at Sears selling lawnmowers. It was while trying to sell a chipper-shredder to Dr. Richard Franks, director of Performing Arts at the Cleveland Music School Settlement (CMSS), that I decided to study composition with him. He was and is a great professional friend, finding me performance opportunities for my work, and getting me into Cleveland State University.
Grad School and Real Life
At the time I started at CSU, I obtained a part time position (later
full-time)
in the Music Shop at CMSS, through the auspices of Ruth Lamm, replacing
her
colleague Jean Froelich, who had terminal cancer. I was also employed
as
a graduate assistant, first in Choral Conducting (mostly library and
program
work), then in Ear Training. After I finished my degree work, I
became
assistant manager and then acting manager at the CMSS Shop, but
left
in 1998 to become assistant music librarian at Case Western
Reserve
University . In 1999 I finally bought a house, a brick bungalow. In
2000
I was introduced to Rusty Mitchell; she is a truck driver in
Niles OH. We got married in March 2005, and now live on 5 acres in
rural Ohio.
I joined the Cleveland
Composers Guild in 1994, served as secretary 1995-99 and as
President 1999-2001, and in 2003-5 secretary again. I sang
in a church choir from 1991-2003. I do early music stuff and the
occasional polka gig. I have a shawm and sackbut band called Burgundy
which plays weddings and feasts.
Hobbies
There aren't many non-musical things that I do. I am a fairly adept cook, and a home brewer (my sparkling gingermead is notorious). Now that I have land, I attempt to garden, and also put a lot of energy into fixing my place up. As you might guess. I spend (too much) time online. I am a retired poet (former member of the Black River Poets) who has won several prizes. I read mostly nonfiction (health and nutrition, history, music, poetry, esoteric lore, computer books).