{"product_id":"segovias-fingernail-9781937979751","title":"Segovia's Fingernail","description":"\u003cp\u003eWhen Lee Pennington transferred to Berea College in the spring of 1958, the second\u003cbr\u003e semester freshman was immediately was named news editor of the Pinnacle, the\u003cbr\u003e student newspaper.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e With way more naivet  than he needed, he was asked to go to Boone Tavern and\u003cbr\u003e interview a musician who was going to give a concert at the college. Here is what Lee\u003cbr\u003e remembers about the moment.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Having grown up in the head of a holler in Greenup County, KY and what I knew about\u003cbr\u003e the world probably would have fit fairly easily in our water bucket. I had never heard of\u003cbr\u003e Andre Segovia and simply had no idea he was already recognized, even in the fifties, as\u003cbr\u003e the world's greatest guitarist.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e He invited me in and for the next 4 hours politely answered all my questions and even\u003cbr\u003e permitted this mountain boy an indiscretion I cannot imagine now, and even to this day, \u003cbr\u003e I carry some embarrassment when I think about it.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e On the floor, in an open case, was one of the two hand-made guitars that had been\u003cbr\u003e made exclusively for Segovia in Spain. I looked at Segovia and asked, \"Would you mind\u003cbr\u003e if I play your guitar?\" I even cringe now, these 61 years later, of having asked that\u003cbr\u003e question.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e This gracious gentleman, without any hesitation, said, \"Go ahead.\" I am certain, or fairly\u003cbr\u003e certain anyway, that it was the only time that \"Wildwood Flower\" was ever played on\u003cbr\u003e Andre Segoiva's guitar  What I am even more certain of is that this mountain boy stood\u003cbr\u003e before a musical genius and received an act of kindness when that boy's own\u003cbr\u003e innocence opened the moment to such an unexpected gift.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e At Berea College, when Segovia performed in the Phelps Stokes Chapel, we students\u003cbr\u003e paid 35 cents to hear him. It was the most amazing concert I have ever witnessed. With\u003cbr\u003e his guitar on his lap, and to a standing room only crowd in Phelps Stokes with no\u003cbr\u003e amplification whatsoever, Segovia held us spell bound for a very long concert--well\u003cbr\u003e over two hours. As I remember, there were nine standing ovation encores.\u003cbr\u003e The memory of my encounter with Segovia was indelible.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Years later, I was thinking about that concert--what it meant to music, what it meant to\u003cbr\u003e art in general, what it meant to all of us, I came up with the idea for the poem \"Segovia's\u003cbr\u003e Fingernail.\" I wanted to tell about two kinds of people--one who was totally immersed in\u003cbr\u003e art, and another who merely wanted to be seen at artsy things.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Then the idea grew. Thus, Segovia's Fingernail, the book, was born.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Hydra Publications","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50370339340562,"sku":"9781937979751","price":15.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_806d2e06-5b82-4a7a-a7da-42065ad5ad15.jpg?v=1728531061","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/segovias-fingernail-9781937979751","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}