on Richard Forrest Woods – Part 2

This is one of many installments of a biography of mentor and friend Dick Woods. See here for the entire series.

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The lay of the land

I received many scores and books from Dick’s estate, courtesy David Templeton. Among those materials was a copy of the 1928 Book of Common Prayer, which a twenty-year-old Richard Woods (only one year younger than the book) acquired in 1949, most likely in Pittsburgh, where he was enrolled at the Carnegie Institute and playing at Trinity [Episcopal?] Chapel in Sharpsburg at the time. On the inside facing page are his signature Richard F. Woods and year of the book’s acquisition, 1949.

Five years later, he affixed on the inside front cover a small sticker pre-printed with his name and address, 1318 Soniat Street, New Orleans. At that time, he was enrolled at Tulane University and working as organist/choirmaster for Grace Episcopal Church on Canal Street.

Then some eighteen years later, he added more. On the inside facing page under his signature is a complete listing of his professional posts from 1949 to 1972:

Trinity Chapel [–] Sharpsburg, Pa.
Grace Church – New Orleans, La.
St. James Church – Wichita, Kan.
Holy Angels Cathedral – Gary, Ind.
St. David’s Church – Austin, Tex.
St. Matthew[’]s Church – Austin, Tex[.]

For whatever reason, his final two positions do not appear: Chapel Organist and Lecturer [later Adjunct Professor] in Church Music at the Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest, Austin, and later Organist-Choirmaster [Director of Music] at the Church of St. John the Divine (Episcopal), Houston.

There are numerous notations in the margins throughout the book, usually of a practical or clarifying nature, perhaps for Dick to impart to his students or, less likely, as reminders for himself in carrying out his routine field duties. Perhaps he taught his Seminary classes from it. Perhaps he kept it on his shelf to preserve it, while he used a church copy for his field duties. Perhaps he treated it as the single man’s ‘family Bible’ containing life milestones. If that last scenario is true, then Dick’s highlights of his life revolved around his service in the Church. In any event, the penciled listing of church positions is invaluable. Several posts not mentioned in his obituary are included in it.

Apparently, this particular Richard wasn’t “Dick” until midway through his career. He was always Richard in print and on stage. However, some folks who knew him prior to his years in Texas refer to him only as Richard. Best I can tell, it wasn’t until the Texas years that people more commonly began calling him Dick.

Dick didn’t talk about himself. He didn’t talk about past positions. He didn’t even talk much about his crucial years in Paris. That’s one reason this biography didn’t take a formal publication route. Details of Dick’s personal and earlier professional histories are vague and hard to come by. The anecdotes from others are not only tantalizing but also sometimes entertaining. Enter Mr. Bruce Power:

Bruce Power was one of Dick’s best friends in Houston, one of those friends Dick could confide in, one of those friends who kept secrets, one of those friends who was always around and on time, right where needed. Officially, Bruce was the Assistant Organist/Choirmaster at Christ Church Cathedral, choral accompanist at St. Agnes Academy and Strake Jesuit Preparatory, and prolific freelance accompanist. Personally, Bruce loved people and loved to discuss the world with them. He and Dick were definitely kindred spirits on that score, and the world surely came into sharper focus during their conversations, many of which took place over margaritas, fajitas, and cigarettes at the original Ninfa’s Mexican restaurant on Navigation Boulevard in Houston.

Bruce told me that he still misses those days. He and Dick talked about everything under the sun, especially philosophy. And music. Just music. Not the organ. Dick also sprinkled in nuggets of wisdom from his time studying in Paris with Nadia Boulanger, who was a whole-world renaissance woman. What Bruce and Dick didn’t talk about very much was Dick. He just wasn’t the type. He did tell Bruce once that as a teen, he would sneak out his window at night and go party in Pittsburgh! Whatever ‘party’ might mean. But knowing Dick, I suspect he just wanted to be around artistic folks who weren’t buried in their work, folks who could discuss all arts, politics, traveling, and human acceptance.

Next time: The early years