LETTERS: JESSE STACY'S LEGACY WILL LIVE ON

To the editor:

When Jesse Stacy, as a young lad, applied for a job at Clark's Music Store on Main Street in downtown Cape Girardeau, little did he know one day he would become the famous person that he did.

Jesse Stacy was always a very devoted and loving son, the only offspring of his father and mother. At a very early age, he became interested in music, and upon taking piano lessons from music professor J. Clyde Brandt realized he possessed a great potential for the art of playing the piano. His very long fingers were unique in allowing him to reach over an octave.

Sheet music was very popular in the 1920s. Clark's Music Store carried much of it. People preferred listening to a piece of music before purchasing it. Stacy had the pleasure, then, of playing the sheet music for a customer. Never did the interested customer leave the store without purchasing the sheet music Stacy played for them.

As time passed, Stacy's popularity grew very fast. He became known as the so-called one of a kind. Playing with a number of big bands, including Benny Goodman's, he became known for his expertise as one of the finest jazz pianists.

Derek Caller of England and a fan of many jazz artists discovered the great Jesse Stacy. After coming to the United States to meet him, Caller became so impressed by the extraordinary skill of Stacy he started writing a book, "Jesse Stacy, the Quite Man of Jazz."

For 25 years, Caller obtained information about Stacy from top musicians with whom he was acquainted. Caller has recently been able to get the finest book yet published about Stacy.

Besides England, the book has reached the United States and is available here at the public library. Stacy has risen to fame as the greatest jazz pianist in the United States.

The admirable fact remains that he did not strive for fame. His deepest love was for his mother and father and for his wife, Pat, for whom he gave up his music career on the road.

Come rain or come shine, the Jesse Stacy legacy will forever live on.

PAULA E. KEMPE

Cape Girardeau