8/17/20 - New Website Featuring the Poetry of Margaret Rorke
Many of you may recall the setting of Margaret Rorke’s poem, “The Church Organist,” which I commissioned from composer Collin Whitfield. It was premiered on a recital in May 2019 at First Presbyterian Church, Saginaw, with Michael Plagerman, organist, and Erin Whitfield, soprano. My good friend and Margaret Rorke’s children, Peggy Rorke and Bob Rorke of Ann Arbor, MI, have created a website featuring a large collection of their mother’s poetry—over 2,800 poems. Please check it out, and take note of the comment by Rev. Norman Vincent Peale, longtime pastor of the Marble Collegiate Church in New York City!
poemsforallseasons.com/
Steven Egler
Dean
Many of you may recall the setting of Margaret Rorke’s poem, “The Church Organist,” which I commissioned from composer Collin Whitfield. It was premiered on a recital in May 2019 at First Presbyterian Church, Saginaw, with Michael Plagerman, organist, and Erin Whitfield, soprano. My good friend and Margaret Rorke’s children, Peggy Rorke and Bob Rorke of Ann Arbor, MI, have created a website featuring a large collection of their mother’s poetry—over 2,800 poems. Please check it out, and take note of the comment by Rev. Norman Vincent Peale, longtime pastor of the Marble Collegiate Church in New York City!
poemsforallseasons.com/
Steven Egler
Dean
8/9/20 - Submitted by Nancy Reim, Organist, Caro United Methodist Church
In the winter of 2018 while exploring choir music on the internet one day I came across a beautiful piece of music - "Lamb of God" by a fellow named John Reim. Noticing that the composer shared my last name, I wondered if he could possibly be my cousin John whom I used to babysit when I was in my late teens. The family moved to California when John was still a toddler and my family lost track of them. After a bit of research I found an email address for the composer and emailed him. Quite promptly he replied. Indeed he was my relative - now a Lutheran pastor and musician in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.
I ordered copies of his music and showed it to the choir director at my church. We decided it would be perfect for our quartet to perform at the Good Friday service in 2019. We also did it again at a subsequent Sunday service. We record our services and I keep track of my favorite selections throughout the year. Some years I ask our sound technician to compile a cd of my selections. I included "Lamb of God" on a recent cd and sent one to John. My words introducing the music are also recorded, so John heard me tell a story from back in the day. When John's family still lived in my hometown in Minnesota, my mother decided to get rid of many of my childhood treasures, among them my model airplane collection that I had laboriously and lovingly assembled. (I was away at college so I guess she thought I would never notice!) I was especially fond of a little green biplane that required very precise work with tiny parts. These days such a kit would contain a warning about choking hazards and not suitable for children under 6. One day on a visit home I stopped to see John and family, and to my utter horror saw my little green biplane smashed to smithereens in John's sandbox. Of course, John had no recollection of this incident, being so young at the time.
Back to 2020. A few weeks after sending him the CD I received a package from John. I was mystified as to what he would be sending me - until I opened it to discover a little yellow helicopter inside! Apology accepted.
As a point of interest, John's father (now deceased) is my second cousin, making John my 2nd cousin once removed, I would guess.
YouTube Link to John Reim "Lamb of God" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bIYF7DQY8s
In the winter of 2018 while exploring choir music on the internet one day I came across a beautiful piece of music - "Lamb of God" by a fellow named John Reim. Noticing that the composer shared my last name, I wondered if he could possibly be my cousin John whom I used to babysit when I was in my late teens. The family moved to California when John was still a toddler and my family lost track of them. After a bit of research I found an email address for the composer and emailed him. Quite promptly he replied. Indeed he was my relative - now a Lutheran pastor and musician in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.
I ordered copies of his music and showed it to the choir director at my church. We decided it would be perfect for our quartet to perform at the Good Friday service in 2019. We also did it again at a subsequent Sunday service. We record our services and I keep track of my favorite selections throughout the year. Some years I ask our sound technician to compile a cd of my selections. I included "Lamb of God" on a recent cd and sent one to John. My words introducing the music are also recorded, so John heard me tell a story from back in the day. When John's family still lived in my hometown in Minnesota, my mother decided to get rid of many of my childhood treasures, among them my model airplane collection that I had laboriously and lovingly assembled. (I was away at college so I guess she thought I would never notice!) I was especially fond of a little green biplane that required very precise work with tiny parts. These days such a kit would contain a warning about choking hazards and not suitable for children under 6. One day on a visit home I stopped to see John and family, and to my utter horror saw my little green biplane smashed to smithereens in John's sandbox. Of course, John had no recollection of this incident, being so young at the time.
Back to 2020. A few weeks after sending him the CD I received a package from John. I was mystified as to what he would be sending me - until I opened it to discover a little yellow helicopter inside! Apology accepted.
As a point of interest, John's father (now deceased) is my second cousin, making John my 2nd cousin once removed, I would guess.
YouTube Link to John Reim "Lamb of God" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bIYF7DQY8s