I just found out an old friend had died--TWO years ago! It seems everyone knew but me.

[DFW]

This made me think--am I so totally wrapped up in my own life that I never heard about the passing of a guy I had known for almost 40 years? We hadn't talked much recently, but we respected each other and had good time the few times we got to meet up in person. We talked on the phone on an irregular basis. Though he had lived in the USA for 60 years, his English still sucked, and my Serbian is only a few steps up from non-existent. He was from Novi Sad, and lived in Beograd before coming to the USA. He had trained as a violin-maker, and was asked, after living in the State for a few years, to make someone a guitar. As he had little experience with guitars, he devised his own model, being especially bold with his design of 12 string guitars. Like many immigrant Serbs, he first settled in Chicago. He then set up a studio in California, moving then back to Chicago and finally settling in Florida.

Gifted with an almost unimaginable artistry, his instruments possessed an haunting depth of tone and resonance. He did inlay work on them that made them art objects to behold as well as to hear. As with so many gifted artists, he never made any money off his talent. When I first met him in 1977, he said a new 12 string hand-built (by him alone) guitar would cost around $2800. He explained he needed about $2000 to buy the materials, and it would take him about 8 to 9 months to build it from scratch. I asked him how he could survive on charging $100 a month for his labor? He said he just didn't think anyone would pay more. Granted, $2800 for a guitar in 1977 was a fucking FORTUNE. But HIS guitars were worth every cent.

So, my old friend (he was close to 90), a belated R-I.P. to Božo Podunavac,. He pronounced his name "BAW-zho Paw-do-NAH-vats." His family name means simply, "below the Danube." He was kind, generous, and never quite grasped that he was a legend in his own time among guitar players. Once, at a guitar convention (I think it was in Nashville), at the big gala dinner, the speaker at the podium was saying something that Božo, as usual, didn't understand. The other guys at his table told him to stand up. He said, "Why I should stand up? Everyone else sitting down!" He never imagined that he would ever be the one being honored for anything.
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[Turbineguy]

1. This has happened to me a few times.

I used to have irregular phone calls with my high school econ Teacher. This went on for nearly 40 years. One day I called and his Wife informed me that he had died 2 years earlier. It was in the local papers (but I don't live there anymore...). As it turned out, I had not called him in 3 years....

Then there was my Boss. I should say, all-time favorite Boss. I called to talk to him and he had died 2 months prior. Nobody in my circle of mutual friends informed me. "We wondered why you didn't go to the Service!"

All we can do is think about such people and do what you've done. They came into our lives, made them better and left.

[TexasProgresive]

2. The great lutiers are becoming as rare as the wood needed to make great instruments.

Rest in peace Božo and be making heavenly music.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

3. My dear DFW....

I am so sorry for your loss, especially for finding out about it this way. Our worlds are so complex these days and this makes it nearly easy to lose track of people we care about.

You are certainly one of the busiest people I know! I think it's entirely appropriate for you to be wrapped up in your work--it's part of who you are.

And thank you for sharing your insight into your old friend. You may not have had a lot of contact, but what you did have was deep.

[DFW]

6. And he lives on in his instruments

Last edited Tue Feb 7, 2017, 02:59 AM - Edit history (1)

I keep 12 string guitars built for me by Božo both here in Germany and at the house in Dallas. I make sure I'm never too far from one, in case I feel the urge to just pick on up and make some music now and then.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

7. I'm glad you have them! I hope they bring you solace and music, both.

[DFW]

10. You can hear me playing those guitars here:

http://www.jango.com/music/The+Freedom+Toast

Click on "Canyonlands" or "Lazy C Ranch"

[shireen]

17. wow!

Both were wonderful! I thought Lazy C Ranch was exquisite.

[DFW]

19. That was actually out on vinyl in the 1980s

Last edited Tue Feb 7, 2017, 06:48 AM - Edit history (1)

If you can find it, I recorded that on an album of international instrumental folk music with some Dutch friends, and we called ourselves the Holland-America Line. We even played a few live concerts in the USA, Holland and Germany. My higher-ups nixed further plans, reminding me that they were paying me to do my day job, not play guitar gigs.

Lazy C Ranch was so named for its tempo and the fact that it was in C tuning. It is on the Holland-America Line album "Maiden Voyage" if you can still find a copy somewhere.

Canyonlands was a modernized version of a tune I first recorded back in 1974. I always wanted to do it with a full band, and five years ago, I finally found the time. Some friends from The Freedom Toast filled in on drums and bass. I did the guitars and synthesizer. One of the guitars used on that recording was also the last one Božo ever built for me. It was the twelve string of this matching pair:

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Here's a close-up to give you an idea of his craft:
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[shireen]

20. Again, wow!

That is beautiful. It's just amazing.
You were fortunate to know him.

Actually, you've known a lot of extraordinary people. It's always interesting to read your posts.

[DFW]

21. A few paths have crossed over the years

Of those who were my amazing "80-somethings," only two survive, and one of them turned 94 last December. The other turns 89 in June. Helen Thomas is gone, Theo Bikel is gone, and now Božo. Nothing (and no one) lasts forever, although Stan Lee might yet prove me wrong on that.

Thanks for the kind words. I'm quite aware that your sentiments are not universally shared.

[exboyfil]

4. A high school classmate of mine

died of AIDS three years after high school graduation. I was at my ten year reunion when I asked another friend (we were part of a Gaming group) where Scott was (he was always the life of any party). He told me that Scott had died years ago.

I had moved away from my high school city immediately after high school graduation (my dad had lost his job). We moved from Mississippi to Illinois, and I went to Purdue and eventually settled in Iowa after graduation. This was long before Facebook, and Scott's death came as quite a shock to me. I may have never met anyone else who had such a zest for life. He was smart and talented. A tragic loss for society.

[dentair152]

13. Kosciusko

This sounds some much like someone I knew, I have to ask if this was Kosciusko, MS?

[exboyfil]

14. Gulfport

In interest of privacy for his family, I won't say anymore.

[world wide wally]

5. I remember his shop in Chicago.

I only went there once because I lived on the south side, but his reputation was widespread for his knowledge and craftsmanship. I think he built a guitar for John Mayall's guitar player, Harvey Mandel. Maybe just customized it.
RIP, Bozo

[Ron Obvious]

8. My sympathies, DFW

This sort of thing happens more often than it should. I found out a few weeks ago that an old boss and friend of mine had died a few months before. I had always intended to call him and get together for lunch or dinner, but kept forgetting and putting it off. It turns out I hadn't called him for nearly 17 years...

Don't put off those phone calls, people...

[tavernier]

9. Yeah, my best friend died in August

but no one notified me. She didn't have a computer but last time we spoke she was getting ready to get one and then we were going to keep in touch daily. I was googling to see if she had joined Facebook and suddenly I was directed to her obituary. To be fair, her parents are deceased, she had no siblings, her husband had apparently recently moved out, and her daughter is an airhead, so I wasn't surprised. But we were like sisters from grade school. Very sad. I truly sympathize.

[benld74]

11. Condolences DFW

My 10 year HS reunion was my first surprise learning classmates has passed. Way before social media, when word of mouth passed news along.
Always a shock when one hears that 'news'.
Glad u can enjoy the instruments.

[DFW]

12. He and his artistry do live on in them.

Last edited Wed Feb 8, 2017, 03:08 PM - Edit history (1)

I have no doubt that (assuming the Republicans don't wipe out life on earth as we know it beforehand) his instruments will be the Stradivari of our era come three centuries from now.

[shireen]

15. My condolences

Don't be so hard on yourself. What you call "wrapped up in my own life" is simply day-to-day living. What else could you have done?

This may sound silly, but that's the main reason I like Facebook. I've connected with old friends that I would otherwise never stay in contact with. A few of those friendships have become stronger because of it. I've also formed new friendships with kindred spirits I've never met in person.

I'm really sorry to hear about the passing of your friend. He sounded like a very extraordinary man.

[DFW]

16. He was a simple good-hearted man

From another era, another culture, and endowed with an unbelievable talent that he recognized, but didn't understand to what extent the world admired him for it.

[calimary]

18. Such a sweet, thoughtful account. Thanks for sharing this with us, DFW.

Sounds like a very dear man, and an artist of the first order. That is a MOST beautiful guitar. A kid who used to be in my son's band went off to finish his studies as a luthier, too. He's apprenticing now, but his work really shows promise. It's the loveliest art, I swear! Quite literally art for the ear as well as the eye.

[DFW]

22. He was indeed an artist

He never had a head for business, when all he had to do was charge double for his guitars what he was charging. For instruments of that quality and visual beauty, they still would have sold, and he never would have had to live the modest life that he did. A friend in Tennessee told me that a hand-made Božo 12 string guitar in good shape now goes in Nashville for $15,000, over five times what he was charging to make them new in the seventies.

My hat goes off to anyone who takes up luthiery as a profession. It requires a combination of both talent and patience far beyond what I possess of either.