hello and good morning to all...im michael lewis, a devoted fan and peripheral figure of HTM from back in the harrisonburg days, up through the days of the band house on colts neck road in reston, virginia days, at which point many things occured in all our lives to bring about divergent paths. in my case, i believe one might describe it as growing up, lol., but that's another tale altogether. i have so many fond memories from those days, and the HTM element is a vivd and wonderful one...my admiration for the individual and collecetive life works of these people endures and shines brightly in my mind and heart to this day,some 35 years or more hence. by the time i graduated high school in 1971, i was already a passionate progressive music aficionado...the efforts of yes, king crimson, elp etc. had somehow filtered through all the other balatantly commercial bullshit being marketed back in those days to what seemed at the time the very lonely and unenlightened central virginia town from which i hailed. when i was in 8th grade, my life was permanently changed by hearing the music of jimi hendrix, and soon to follow were page and clapton and their bands, along with the flood that followed. at that young age i found myself stunned and elated by the creativite and passionate musical/social movement occuring in the world around me, but at such a seemingly remote distance. a close friend and i endeavoured to move to london to gain direct access to this magic...little did i know i was to stumble upon one stan whitaker, then the many other gifted and hard working members of their creative community right here in my beloved virginia. like so many others at the time, i was aimlessly wandering, lost in a cloud of pot smoke and shattered illusions at the end of the peace/hippie movement, clinging desperately to the idealism that appeared to have been an illusion all along, and i trekked up to harrisonburg, va, to be with and enjoy the company of my cousin, rick foster. he worked part time at the rockingham memorial hospital then...one night on the midnight shift he introduced me to an interesting character...tall, slim, another long hair like myself..very friendly and clever. he was, just like my cousin rick, and orderly at the hospital, but there was one distinct difference. he went about his duties in his green hospital scrubs with a beautiful acoustic guitar strapped on, slung around on his back all the while..as you've probably deduced, it was stan whitaker. my cousin and he were co workers and friends; he described him as an ingenious guitarist, as good as any i might have heard in the course of my deep involvement in music. i thought to myself.."sure, sure'..little did i know that stan was, in fact, just that. in the ensuing months and years i had the pleasure and privilege of hearing he and the others rehearse and perform with a brilliance and passion that still staggers my mind and heart. inevitably, there are always hangers on and social climbers surrounding any rock band, let alone one of the promise and importance of HTM, so i made a conscious effort to not become one of these. stan was such a friendly guy and very welcoming and accomodating, but i made a concerted effort to not be a pest like i had seen so many times in the world of rock music . as a result, stan and i were friends, more than casual acquaintances, but never major personal confidants, but close enough that i found myself in attendance at untold numbers of rehearsals and practices, as well as live performances. i, like so many others, was shocked and amazed at the level of creative genius and virtuoso musicianship they achieved at such a young age. when i met stan, he began telling me about his musical project named "happy the man" and how they were awaiting the arrival of their bassist from germany to complete the lineup. at this juncture, stan, frank, kit, and michael beck were already composing and rehearsing their awe inspiring material, much of which showed up on their first album on arista..from the first note struck in the first band practice i attended, i found myself reeling in disbelief and delight, awestruck even, by what i was hearing and seeing. impossibly tight, dense,complex , textured,melodic, beautiful, inspired music - not just, as good as, the incredible yes/king crimson/etc compositions had heard and seen performed- but somehow, wondrously, even better. i simply cannot fully relate how thunderstruck and affected i was then, and remain by these first performances and the many since then. i may be mistaken, but i believe i was in attendance at the very first public performance of HTM, at the elbow room, a college town beer bar there in harrisonburg then, the next, at wilson hall there on the jmu campus, , the black friar dinner theater performance of deaths crown, and so many others i lost count. another truly fond memory is when stan introduced me to genesis, and somehow came up with great tickets for their tour date at the lyric theater in baltimore on "the lamb lies down on broadway" tour. how incredibly fortunate i have been to have had this passing interaction with stanley and the others in their entourage. i fear im guilty of having taking for granted my proximity to the many remarkable undertakings of theirs, and i recall thinking that their rise to fame, fortune and much deserved recognition was an inevitability, not something that could possibly be subverted and stunted by a blind and unfeeling music industry. but that was to come later..at the time, i believe kit was a fulltime student, frank a part time student, and part time pepperoni slinger at pizza hut (where he worked with my girlfriend), mike, im unsure about, and i distinctly recall the air of anticipation and excitement at the party that day out on port republic road to welcome rick in from germany. things really went into high gear at that point. as i recall. for entirely different reasons, me and my girlfriend also moved to the washington dc area, where i reestablished contact with stan, and i would frequently visit him at the house on colts neck road. i distincly recall sitting with stanley in his room one day with he, tim eyerman, and dr mota, a local radio personality, admiring the craftsmanship of the new double neck guitar stan had just had made by the then relatively unknown paul reed smith. i'll never forget how heavy that thing felt to me, lol. it was during this period that i was fortunate enough to sit in on yet rehearsals and attend shows at the carter barron ampitheater,at gerogetown university, and the all important shows at the cellar door. as i recall, paul reed smith could be found playing with root boy slim and his band down at desperados during this time, also in georgetown. what monumental days in the musical history of the town i still live near, washington dc. so many years have come and gone since these days, and in these intervening years the band went through their own trials and tribulations, victories and setbacks, and i moved on myself, becoming a commercial construction engineer and superintendent, a career far removed from the path stan and company have traversed with such elegance and sparkling creativity. as i sit here at my keyboard, the proud 55 year old father of a 20 year old aspiring musician son and fellow admirer of HTM, OS, and PGA, to quote joni mitchell, "i well up with affection thinking back down the road till then". my heart goes out to stan and his loved ones in his struggle, and i pray for them to prevail. thank you for reading my ramblings, and if any of you wish to, please message me here,email me or call or text me at 703-472-7717. i intend to read all of the thoughts on this board, and indulge further in the incredible memories and beauty that stan and HTM have brought to me and my family..."stimpy", aka Michael Lewis