About

My father - Edward John Louis

Among the many great things Dad was, and achieved, two of the most important legacies he created were his deep interest in science and engineering, and his passion for music.

The Science and Engineering Legacy:

We Louis children grew up in a house with a basement full of tools and projects, some very old and some modern (or at least they were modern by 1970’s standards). I spent many, many hours of my childhood in that dark, damp basement, surrounded by the field stone and mortar walls constructed in the late 1800’s, and by Dad’s collection of wrenches, saws, oscilloscopes, soldering irons, and any number of electronic and mechanical projects-in-progress on his workbench.

The basement was my playground, and Dad was my part-teacher / part-playmate in that wonderland where your knowledge and your hands could create usefulness from spare parts and scrap metal.

That formative time with Dad ultimately led me to follow his path into an engineering education and a rewarding career in industry.

Dad’s technical focus was in electrical engineering, with a mix of advanced physics and programming for good measure.

When I got old enough to pursue my own specialty in mechanical engineering, Dad and I often engaged in a friendly debate about whose field of technology was the more difficult to comprehend. I always contended that electrons and the physics that govern their behavior was “mystery science” of things we cannot see.

Dad always wondered how an object with the complexity of a car engine could be broken down to its lowest components, and reassembled to work as a whole.

I feel this ongoing debate was our way of expressing mutual respect for each other’s knowledge, and our collective wonder at the complexity of the world and how it all works.

The Music Legacy:

Of equal or even greater meaning to me was my Dad’s passion for music, especially jazz performance . We grew up in a house constantly filled with music; some of it from his extensive record collection of the greats of jazz history, and much of it performed by his own two strong hands on his beloved grand piano.

When I was around 4 or 5 years old, Dad was faced with a critical financial decision: should he buy a much-needed new car to provide reliable transportation for the family? Or should he purchase a brand-new Yamaha baby grand piano, which cost roughly as much as a new car at that time?

The piano won out, and the entire family and all those touched by his music over the years would agree to this day that it was the right choice.

What I learned from Dad, through his musical tutelage and example, was:

• The unbridled joy in creating music of your own making, especially together with fellow musicians and friends.
• How to improvise over chord changes, both written and more importantly by ear.
• To keep playing through a tune, leave the mistakes behind, the music doesn’t stop.
• At the very young age of 14: how to behave on stage in a group of adults, and how to interact with an audience of people my parents’ age as a peer and not as a child.

I take great joy in making music now in my late 50’s as I did when I started with Dad as a child. I draw on the skills he taught me to this day, every time I pick up an instrument to practice alone or to perform on stage for an audience, when I often imagine I can look out into the crowd and see him watching and listening, or even better, sitting at the keyboard laying down the chords for the band.

What is good in me, what I have achieved, the joys I appreciate in life, have their roots in what my father planted and nurtured. And I am forever grateful.

• Chris Louis