My Musical Family

It's easy to keep track of my book project's birthday because it all started in October of 2006, when Elias turned 6. Now he's 17, and I am so close to being done, I would love to whip up a cake and celebrate. But I will have to hold that out as an incentive while I finish this last important stage of the project: revision. Instead, I am marking the occasion (a few weeks late) with a slice of fresh-out-of-the-oven pumpkin bread.

I didn't set out to write a book in October 2006. I only intended to help my dad with some research about his paternal grandfather, G. Oliver Riggs, in preparation for the St. Cloud Municipal Band's 120th anniversary concert the following spring.