[Harp-L] Michael Polseky and the 2011 SPAH Award of Special Merit

[Winslow Yerxa <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx>]

I was saddened to hear of the passing of Michael Polesky last night. I'd been aware for some months of his illness, and this played a role in selecting him to receive the 2011 SPAH Award of Special Merit. Here are some remarks I prepared, but never got to deliver, at the award ceremony last August.
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The SPAH Award of Special Merit is unique among our awards.
Itâs not based on playing ability. It doesnât even need to go an individual â
it can be awarded to an organization.
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However, Iâm happy to say that this yearâs recipient is in
fact an individual, and a very talented harmonica player. But, true to its
purpose, the award is being given for having benefitted the harmonica in a
manner thatâs deserving of singular honor.
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This yearâs recipient of the special merit award was born
and raised in Los Angeles, in a neighborhood that domiciled many prominent
classical music families, and in fact, the recipient started out playing
classical music on the clarinet. 
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Over time, however, the harmonica gripped his imagination.
He settled on the chromatic, with jazz as his style of choice.
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Always eager to support innovation in harmonica design, he
purchased all the new models of both chromatic and diatonic and also acquired many
custom-built instruments as well, eventually settling on a tenor Renaissance as
his instrument of choice, and his feedback to the designers, Douglas Tate and
Bobbie Giordano, was influential in improving the design. 
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(As Bobbie notes, âDoug and I shared many jokes,
(with Michael too,) about how amazingly his Renny manages to take a licking and
keep on ticking!"Â He's the
only owner who ever bent the coverplates with his GRIP!! If any part of a Renny can be lost,
broken or just plain destroyed, Michael's your man! So, I can honestly say he
influenced a number of improvement changes we felt were needed in the
Renaissance design; and besides, his dedication to, and skillful playing of the
Renny has always been a treat for everyone; but, especially, Doug and me.â)
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He also had a gift for connecting players to one another. A
mentor to many harmonica players in the Los Angeles area, he was instrumental
in establishing LARHA, the Los Angeles Regional Harmonica Association, and in
organizing get-togethers glittering with the finest harmonica talent, often in
conjunction with the music industryâs Winter NAMM show that brought the cream
of music talent worldwide to Southern California, along with many of the
worldâs top harmonica artists.
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However, his single most significant contribution to the
worldwide harmonica community, and the reason for this award, was his work in ensuring
the survival of the pioneering online harmonica forum harp-l during its early
years, when it was abandoned by its owner. 
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In this age of ubiquitous online harmonica forums, web vendors,
teaching sites, Skype lessons, and YouTube, itâs hard to remember how
revolutionary it was when, for the first time, harmonica players worldwide could
connect online and share information by posting text messages. In the early
1990s harp-l provided that connection, establishing the first significant
forum for players, both to share knowledge and ideas and to voice concerns that
would be heard by manufacturers and harmonica related organizations.
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Starting at West Kentucky University, harp-l moved off
campus with the graduation of its founder, Chris Pierce, and was taken on by a
computer tech who domiciled it on his company servers and provided
administration. But when that tech abruptly parted ways with his company, he
left harp-l unfunded, adrift, and broken: the harmonica worldâs online link was
suddenly severed.
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For awhile, no-one seemed able or willing to get harp-l
back on track, and it seemed that the harmonica communityâs unique online forum
would go dark.
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But about that time, our awardee came to the rescue. It
was a natural for him â he was always an active supporter for good, new ideas,
and harp-l was certainly that. Â
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Saving it would require putting it on a sound financial
footing â heâs also an accountant, by the way â but also strong technical
skills. So he put his networking skills to work and assembled a team. It was
touch and go for awhile and there was plenty of high drama behind the scenes,
but the awardee showed unflappable cool in managing the crisis, and soon
the worldwide harmonica discussion
was flowing freely again. 
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Michael administered the list with a firm and even hand
for a number of years before turning it over to its present administration
headed by fjm, and remains a strong harp-l supporter to this day. 
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Ladies and gentlemen, for his many years in supporting and
nurturing the harmonica community, harmonica players, and harmonica design, but
especially for his critical role in keeping the communication lines open at
harp-l, the 2011 SPAH Award of Special Merit goes to Michael Polesky
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(As Michael was not present to receive the award, his friend David Fairweather accepted on Michaelâs behalf.)

Winslow
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Winslow Yerxa
Author, Harmonica For Dummies ISBN 978-0-470-33729-5
Harmonica instructor, The Jazzschool for Music Study and Performance
Resident expert, bluesharmonica.com
Columnist, harmonicasessions.com