This is my new profile on the Compassion Consortium Members platform. You all know about my spiritual/vegan/animal rights background from the CC website and spiritual services. Now for the important stuff.

I originally wanted to be a musician. I played the accordion from the age of 8. In 1964, I placed second in the World Accordion Championship 12-year-old division at the World's Fair in NYC (full disclosure: there were only 5 contestants in the 12-year-old division). I also played the French Horn and toured Europe twice with symphony orchestras while I was a teenager. I also played the harmonica and co-authored The Complete Idiot's Guide to Playing the Harmonica. Most importantly, I later played accordion and harmonica in an Irish rock bank for 6 years -- we were kind of like a Pogues cover band, with other music sprinkled in. Alas, I became a lawyer and left my beloved music career behind. And then I became a minister and left my unbeloved legal career behind. However, I still have an accordion, and before Covid hit us I belonged to an organization that sent musicians to play at nursing homes and elderly care facilities in NYC. I enjoyed this very much --- I hope the audiences did as well.

Rev. William