Frank Glazer

The story that launched a thousand more.

Photograph by Phyllis Graber Jensen

This story about my uncle, pianist Frank Glazer, was created on the fly and without text. I just sat down and recorded it as a sample for teachers in my Master’s Class.

I had designed a curriculum around students creating stories with just sound, music and an image — a Photo Story. It was wildly successful. Teachers used this piece as a way to explain what they wanted and literally thousands of students created their own stories of a special family member using Frank as an example.

I discovered that this exercise went way beyond Vermont; quite a few teachers shared this video with colleagues around the country so I have no idea how many other stories it influenced.

When I told this to my uncle, when I told him he’d “gone viral” and then explained what that meant he pondered.

“Hmm,” Frank said. “I don’t know whether I’ve gone viral or not, maybe just a small head cold.”

He died at the age of 99 on January 13, 2015. His last words were hummed — a few bars of one of the pieces he was learning in anticipation of his planned six concerts in four states on his 100th birthday. He didn’t quite make it.