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I just want to get this thank you message to Benjamin Sabey (for his July issue videos, “Re: Leroy Robertson”) and to Glen Nelson. Great story, wonderful tribute and excellent “class” about form, structure, themes and variations. 

And Ben, I wanted you to be a BFF the moment you choked up during the story about Leroy’s response to Crawford Gates taking his spot for the 100th anniversary celebration (Promised Valley). Tough blow, to be sure, and sadly it hasn’t been the only time like it in our history. But as you pointed out, $360K wasn’t a minor compensation. The prize money said, “We heard you. We value you and what you offer and hope this award encourages you to keep on keepin’ on.” So many times when things like this happen, we think that heaven’s representatives don’t hear or value or want to encourage us at all. Not true, of course, but it certainly can feel that way.

So glad, Benjamin, that you are now on my radar. Hopefully, when I recover from my kidney transplant, I’ll have a chance to get to the Bay Area and may sneak into the back of your class and be inspired

Michael McLean

Heber City, Utah

Hi Rebecca, Thank you for this nice note! It was a fun little project that Glen Nelson goaded me into, and I’m so glad he did. I’m afraid that I did not do the subject matter justice but it was the best I could do under the circumstances and hopefully it brings one or two new listeners to Leroy’s music.  Thank you for the wonderful detail of that anecdote! If you feel so inclined, I would love to have you put it in the comment section on the video in YouTube so that this extra information can be recorded there “for posterity” as they say. Yes, I have seen that video. I think I pilfered it for some of the screenshots I used in mine!

Hopefully our paths may cross in real life someday. Best Wishes!

Ben Sabey

Belmont, California

Dear Benjamin, A colleague of mine here at USU, Patrick Mason,  passed along a series of videos you made earlier this summer on Leroy Robertson for the Center for Latter-day Saints Arts. Robertson is my great-grandfather. I particularly enjoyed your analysis of the Punch and Judy Overture. 

Just a fun fact: Renee is my grandmother (she just turned 94). She remembers her contribution a little differently than Marian recorded in her biography. Renee was in the first grade when she came up with her melody. A student teacher in Renee's class shared a simple poem with the class and asked if anyone would like to compose a melody for the poem. Renee came up with the tune and then sang the words and her song to her family after school. Leroy was delighted and made a big fuss over it. The first few bars of the oboe part are Renee's original song to the poem she learned at school: 

Swinging, Swinging

Here we go up

Here we go down

Swinging, Swinging

Here we go up and down.

Then together father and daughter came up with some additional words and music before returning to Renee's tune.

Up so high in the treetops

Down so low in the garden

Swinging, Swinging

Here we go up,

Here we go down.

If you haven't already seen it, here is a short video the U of U put together on Robertson.

Rebecca Anderson 

Logan, Utah

Kathie Debenham

Kathie Debenham is Emeritus Professor of Dance at UVU where she founded the Dance Department and was inaugural Dean of the School of the Arts. She is a member of the Center for Latter-day Saint Arts’ Advisory Board and The Season Editorial Board.

Megan Eckersley

Megan Eckersley is a graphic designer based out of New York City and has worked with clients like Squarespace. She is currently at Square as a Brand Designer.

Sara Lynne Lindsay

Sara Lynne Lindsay’s work uses plant material and soil as a record of personal, cultural, and ecological history. She is based in Georgia.

Bridget Verhaaren

Bridget Verhaaren resides in the Wasatch Mountains, is an avid fan of skiing, and enjoys travel adventures with her husband, Gary Garner, and their eight children (five "bonus" children). She has a B.A. in English from Brigham Young University and an M.F.A. in Creative Nonfiction from Vermont College of Fine Arts. She spent a life-changing Spring of 2022 working with refugees at the Polish Border after the Russian Invasion of Ukraine. She is revising a memoir, So, I Married a Doctor and a Lawyer.

What podcast are you listening to?

Kathie Debenham

Megan Eckersley

Joël René Scoville

Benjamin Taylor

Warren Winegar