Mujitsu and Tairaku's Shakuhachi BBQ

jimwilms · 2010-07-22 00:54:02

my interest in shakuhachi comes from having tom deaver as my oldest and dearest friend.. we were roommates at the university of kansas in the early 60's.. i remember standing with tom next to my car in topeka, kansas with tom telling me he was going to japan.. he intended to find a place high in the mountains where the water was fresh and where he could be himself.. i have 50 years of correspondence from tom.. the stamps must be a collector's dream by now..tom was playing a western metal side flute.. he was going to learn to play a japanese flute.. he more than surpassed he intentions.. .

tom always stopped to visit whenever he was in the states and i had the good fortune of visiting him in his studio twice, once in the 80's and again a couple of years ago.. i remember listening to him playing his flute in my living room, the sound didn't come from the flute, it came from him, from his total being.. another time while visiting him in matsukawa i was hiking in the woods and he was playing his flute in his studio.. the sound from the distance was enchanting.. .

i found out about his passing this afternoon.. i have known of his illness and have dreaded this day.. i will miss him for the rest of my life.. .

jim williams salt lake city, utah usa

Justin · 2010-07-22 05:43:22

Hi Jim,
Thanks so much for sharing this about Tom here. Your stories bring back memories too. I didn't know Tom before he lived in Nagano, but he certainly seemed to have achieved his goal, living high in the mountains with fresh water, and, most certainly being himself! Much of his house he designed and built himself, with ingenious heating from the sun through the greenhouse to his shakuhachi work-room upstairs, compost-heated water, growing his own veggies and of course those lovely blueberries. I'll miss the sound of his shakuhachi coming from the workshop too.

philthefluter · 2010-07-22 18:44:20

Hi Jim. I spent a month on Tom's blueberry farm. He was someone who followed his dream and lived it! He had a deep love of shakuhachi. He was aware of his carbon footprint decades before this entered the public domain. I think he influenced many others to follow their dreams too.

Mujitsu and Tairaku's Shakuhachi BBQ

#1 2010-07-22 00:54:02

tom deaver.. .

#2 2010-07-22 05:43:22

Re: tom deaver.. .

#3 2010-07-22 18:44:20

Re: tom deaver.. .

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