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t’s surprising what a close, personal feel, is that of scholar to subject. When
relationship I have with William L. I daydream about what it would be like
IDawson, considering that he passed to meet him, I imagine feeling awestruck
away almost twenty years before I first and more than a little intimidated.
learned about him. The music he creat- Would he like me? Would he approve of
ed, the material evidence of his life, and my work? I suspect he would appreciate
conversations with those who knew him the time and effort I’ve spent document-
have enabled me not only to write a book ing his remarkable life and career. I hope
about Mr. Dawson, but to gain a vivid he would forgive the inevitable blind
sense of him as a fellow musician, educa- spots of this white Gen-X musicologist.
tor, and human being. I’m certain he would be polite—and
Other contributors to this issue of that once we got to know each other a
Choral Journal have firsthand experience bit better, he would tell me exactly what
with the man himself. My own relation- he thought of my book.
ship with him, however personal it may
CHORAL JOURNAL September 2024 Volume 65 Number 2 29
