John Haney

Abstract

With budgets being cut across the country with many schools, administrators are looking at
various ways to cut costs in their education budgets. One instance that has become popular is to
combine music positions and assign them to one person. When we are certified, by way of our
undergraduate degree, to teach all areas of music, it is a misleading stamp of approval on most of
us in the field. The exception to this would be anyone having gone through both vocal and
instrumental lessons in their undergraduate, and multiple semesters of both types of ensembles.
When given the assignment of taking over the choir program after our choir director left
the district, I immediately looked at ways to improve my own brief and small background in
vocal music education. After talking to other vocal directors about physical traits and limits of
the voice, various methods of warming up and teaching ensembles were researched. Also, an
effective and efficient calendar to balance my duties and responsibilities of running a
competitive band program with a struggling choir program had to be planned.… (mehr)

Haney grew up in a working class family north of London. Now copy editor for Gourmet Magazine, he has written an engaging biography primarily focused on his life in Britain before he moved to the US. This is not a "food" book in the sense it regales you with recipes and meals you want to try at home. To the contrary, it chronicles the abysmal cuisine that Haney grew up with. Althouigh a bit of an aesthete as an adult, the execrable food always connects Haney to family and culture. It also connects him to class, something he thought he could escape in America, but our class structure is only more subtle. His father is working class poor, but a thoroughly likeable chap you would like to share a pint with. His mother was a striver. always trying to expose him to culture, and with some success (reminds me of Stegner'smother in this regard). His love for literature is evident as is his passion for music. He played drums in two minor British punk bands. What I liked best, is that he was born about the same time as me (1951) and gives me a feel for what a parallel life would have been for me in other circumstances. He examines the conflicts of trying to escape a class, which very roots define who he is. The only disconnect in the book is his sorrow at the abject poverty his dad and mom descended into before they died. From his job, one would suspect he had the financial wherewithal to help them, but apparently did not, either through his parents' pride or for other reasons.… (mehr)