World was better with Homer in it
To The Sun:
Reported in the Dec. 12 edition of The Winchester Sun was that of all the instruments Homer Ledford made, he made 26 guitars - and of the 26 guitars he made, I own one of them. It plays loud and deep and sounds like a guitar that someone spent a long time considering and making.
When I first started playing the guitar, I spent time in Homer's workshop getting strings, capos, and picks and visiting with him. To watch Homer handle an instrument was something really extraordinaryâ?¦ he held instruments with the same caution and care and love that one holds a wounded animal. His demeanor and touch made the instrument seem alive, organic, bleeding - and when he handed me back a guitar it was as if he had laid healing hands on the contrary spots.
Whenever I visited with Homer, he offered stories about his life experiences, and he told jokes, and he made me feel as if I was the only person who had been by to see him that day. I was just a kid with a loud guitar strum and the teenage angst to go with it, but his willingness to fellowship and share of his wit and hope transcended it all. It's hard for me to imagine someone much more humble than Homer — he gave lots and asked for little.
