He is an amazing man, my mother’s father. I have thought of him often since moving to Ogden years ago, and since losing my voice in Michigan last year. I recovered about 70 percent — still working on it.
George Oscar Russell
George Oscar Russel (1890, in Conejos, Colorado – March 17, 1962) was an American speech scientist. He was a professor at the Ohio State University and published an influential book in 1928 called The Vowel: Its Physiological Mechanism as Shown by X-Ray. ... — Wikipedia
[Yes, I see misspelled surname in text under page heading. Need to submit correction to Wikipedia. (My TO-DO list is growing.) By the way, my wife Kay & I made a fascinating side trip to Conejos in 2017, right before our mission.]
Grandfather Russell gave me a SoundScriber dictation machine that played messages he had recorded on green vinyl records. In turn, I used it to record messages for him to play on his machine, same as mine. And the postal service worked well. (That was before email was invented, which is more convenient now.) After many moves, this treasure is in my little apartment with vinyl waiting to be digitized and shared with posterity. ( I wonder where Grandfather’s SoundScriber and the records I produced are now — maybe in someone’s antique collection in the attic.)
Thank you, Grandfather Russell, for caring about your little grandson. I’m sure you had a hand in my recovery as I hoped you would after being stopped by a Jazzy parked in a dark hallway. I’m sorry I failed to find the light switch when leaving our family history class; I just saw the light at the far end of the hall. I will be more careful in my old age. Take care to help my young bride feel at home with my family there.
