Re: 'Tells School History' ~ George W. Samson
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In reply to:
'Tells School History' ~ George W. Samson
Deborah Stanley 3/25/03
This George W. Samson is likely the same man whose wife taught the famous "Blind" Boone twenty-five concert pieces in two months, ca. 1882. Boone's manager, John Lange, had taken a partner, B. T. Raisor, to help with the expenses incurred while traveling. Mr. Raisor, who was the sheriff of Wayne Co. in 1880, boarded young Boone with the George W. Samson family while Lange returned to Columbia, Mo. to raise more cash. When Lange returned in the fall he was amazed that Mrs. Samson had taught Boone how to interpret the great European masters. The composer Franz Lizst became Boone's favorite and from that time on, Lizst's Hungarian Rhapsodies were always on a Boone program. Boone's ability to play this most formal of concert music so strengthened his performances that he began selling more tickets than most venues had seats.
George W. Samson later taught at the State Teacher's College at Cedar Falls, ca. 1920.
Mike Shaw
www.blindboonepark.org