I graduated from high school in San Diego in 1961, and one of my classmate friends, John Blair, became Roberta's lover when they were early in their careers. John was a superb classical violinist. Every year he would perform for the student body in an assembly, and dazzle us with his virtuosity, very impressive for our inner-city high school where musical tastes favored Chuck Berry and Little Richard. One day John came up to me and asked, "Do you know how to get to Carnegie Hall?" I said, "No, I've never been to New York." He replied, "Practice, practice, practice!" He was voted by our class as Most Likely to Succeed, and earned a full scholarship to the prestigious Eastman School of Music.
I lost contact with him after we graduated, but seven years later, I was astonished to read an article about him in the
New Yorker magazine. He'd had to give up his musical career due to calcium deposits in his fingers (an occupational hazard of violinists), and was running a martial arts studio in Manhattan. The
New Yorker found that interesting enough to do an article. He later recovered enough to resume his musical career, becoming an Air Force musician and playing in the White House Orchestra. Later, he switched to jazz and performed with his own group at the Newport Jazz Festival in Avery Fisher Hall. Since Avery Fisher Hall replaced Carnegie Hall as NYC's primary concert venue, I give him credit for having made it to Carnegie. He later recorded a few albums, and played in other jazz groups, most notably with Alice Coltrane. Despite these accomplishments, by the turn of the century, he had fallen on hard times and had become homeless in Manhattan (but he still had a website!). He eventually died from heart failure at NYC's VA hospital.
Now why have I gone on so long about my friend John Blair? It all leads up to showing the incredible class of Roberta Flack. Even though they had not been a couple for decades, when she heard John had died, she made all of the funeral arrangements, paid for John's sister to fly in from Michigan, came to the funeral, and sang for the 20 people in attendance. You can imagine which song she sang.
Here is a link to an article by writer Blossom Benedict about the last three weeks of John's life, of which she was an important part:
The Legend of John Blair - Blossom Benedict
