Three days later, another mentor gone. Finding words to describe Frank's legacy is something that the SAA can do far better than me:

"Frank was a founding member and chairman of both the Guitar Committee of the International Suzuki Association and the Guitar Committee for the Suzuki Association of the Americas. Frank took a leadership role in developing a graded repertoire for the guitar through Suzuki methodology and, as a registered Teacher Trainer, he worked tirelessly to pass along his knowledge and experience to guitar instructors in the U.S. and around the world.

Frank's efforts distinguished him as an internationally recognized music educator. He performed and conducted teacher development courses and children's workshops on numerous occasions in Australia, several countries in South America and Europe and across the United States. His students have won prestigious awards including the Bay Area Unicef Concerts and the Junior Bach Festivals. He was featured in articles in Suzuki World, the American Suzuki Journal, Soundboard (the journal for the Guitar Foundation of America) and in an interview for Acoustic Guitar Magazine.

For his dedication to the development of Suzuki Guitar School and the creation of the Longay Conservatory of Guitar, Frank was honored as a 2006 recipient of the distinguished Creating Learning Community award presented by the Suzuki Association of the Americas."

The Suzuki Guitar path has been very good to me through the last fifteen years - I'll always be deeply indebted to Frank for his crucial role in creating and illuminating that path for me. My deepest disappointment is never having told him so personally (but I think on some unspoken level he knew, and still knows). Goodbye, Frank, and thanks for everything.