Jan and John Maggs Antiques

A Sunday morning adventure

The attractive, well-dressed woman walked into our booth at the Pound Ridge show in Westchester County, New York. Since she and her husband were moving to a smaller home, they had a few antiques they hoped to sell. She had come to the show to find a potential buyer and was speaking with dealers who appeared to sell pieces similar to theirs. Two of the four photographs she showed us seemed to suit our style. She told us what they felt the pieces were worth, and, feeling that their expectations were reasonable, we agreed to drive to their home on Sunday morning before the show opened.

We woke early, ate breakfast in our hotel, and drove to an exceptionally attractive retirement community a few miles from the show. The couple welcomed us warmly into their living room, where the two pieces were. But as we spoke, it was not the antiques that caught our attention. Rather, on the far wall were displayed several gold long-playing records. At a suitable break in the conversation, we ventured, "Would you tell us about the records?"

Quietly and with great modesty, our host began, "Oh, I was a recording engineer at Columbia. Normally engineers didn't get the awards, because we were in the union, but they gave these to me when I retired."

When we asked who the artists were, we were given a list that included some of the biggest names in the field of popular music and jazz. Our jaws probably dropped as the names came from his mouth: Tony Bennett ("I started him."), Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Johnny Mathis, Aretha Franklin, Miles Davis, Bill Evans ("He was a wonderful man."), are the names that we remember. We might have continued talking for hours about his career in music, had he not interrupted the conversation, to share the spotlight with his wife of more than sixty years by shifting the topic from his career to his wife's artwork, lovely collages of her own handmade paper.

Eventually, we inspected the pieces we had come to purchase. As they lived up to their description, we promptly agreed on the price and wrote a check as a deposit. We would return in a week or two to pick them up.

Recognizing that our interest in music was very deep, he offered one additional anecdote before we left. In 2005 he was asked to speak at a meeting of the Audio Engineering Society at Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York. The other speakers, all younger engineers, appeared with volumes of paper and visual aids. He had brought nothing of the sort. When his turn to speak came, he spoke briefly of his career and achievements. At the conclusion of his remarks, he sat down as the audience began to applaud. After a few moments his neighbor on the dais leaned to him and whispered, "Frank, you should look out into the hall."

He looked up to see the audience giving him a standing ovation.

Upon our return to Conway, we searched his name on the Internet. As we had expected, his modest summary of his career was as understated as his manner. We had met one of the giants in the field of American music, whose attention to sound quality and relaxed manner in the studio contributed much to the success of many.

It was a house call that will stay in our memories forever.

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