Hi,
I’m John Lonsdale Montgomery Palmer. Sometimes I go by John and sometimes Lonsdale or some variation on it like Lon (most frequent) or Lonnie (not so much). I tried Lonnie as a stage name once but someone said it made them think of an old black bluesman or Loni Anderson, neither of which quite fit the image I wanted to cultivate.
I’m turning sixty-six in July. If you do the math, Elvis was on a roll when I was a kid and I was a teenager in the sixties, seventeen in 1967 (the summer of love) so I’m sure you can figure out what I was up to . . . I survived.
I became a professional musician. I opened for the Who once – actually I opened for the band that opened for the Who. Neat playing for thousands – of people, that is, not dollars.
I did an album in 1971 called Shorelines and it just got reissued in the States on vinyl and as a CD. If you Google “John Palmer Shorelines” you’ll get several pages of reviews and articles on it.
I went into classical music, studied piano, sang in choir, was a church organist/choirmaster, taught pirivate music lessons and eventually, at forty or so, started teaching high school – four more years till I graduate – er, retire.
I kept up my music – you can hear a recent song at palmersopus.com or search “John Palmer Towards the Light” on Youtube. I did some producing, composing and performing, and got some of my psalm settings in the Canadian Catholic Book of Worship III. Eclectic, yes?
I also did some writing for the Toronto Star and a few other newspapers and magazines on the Monarchy – I’m a staunch monarchist – and the I got interested in fiction. My first novel is coming out soon – I’ll post a link for that, too, and another is near completion.
I’ve worked hard, made a lot of mistakes, and done even more thinking about . . . “stuff”.
I’ll be posting a lot of it here.
Lon Palmer
Hi Lon, You have misspelled “releveant”. Tut tut.
What is the point of a blog? I like what you said about names – a rose is a rose is a rose by any other name….
Big sister.
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> Hi Lon, You have misspelled “releveant”. Tut tut.
And you misspelled “loosing” – hee-hee.
Two English teachers, folks!
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second comment: I’m glad you like the name Lon – I have always loved it! Named after our beloved “Bompa” who died in a hotel fire in Brockville, Ontario, a very sad loss. I was just getting to know him when he died. You loved playing cards with Granny Palmer, even though she cheated at poker. You were smart enought not to say anything. The big giveaway when Granny was loosing was her comment, “Hurry up Lon, I’m getting bored.” Sis.
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I adored Bampa and Granny Palmer was, in both senses of the word, a “card”.
I remember Bampa taking me on a walk to the park – it’s one of my most treasured memories. I was probably eight or ten. We sat on a park bench at the southwest corner of Avenue Rd. and St. Clair. I sat there once as an adult, just to feel him there. Dad used to tell me that Bampa loved the curcus and would go down to the train station to watch the animals being unloaded when the circus came to town, so as we sat there, he said, “You know, Lon, when a lion roars, it’s almost loud enough to shake the whole world. Not quite, but all most.” I can’t tell you how many times I’ve wished that I’d asked him, “Bampa, what happens when two lions roar?” I resolved that that would be the first question I would ask him when I see him in heaven.
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I have no idea how this happened, but these comments all belong under my first post “Hello Everyone” and I have no idea how to move them.
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OMG … JLMP! Hello there … I’ll stick with “John”! While reminiscing with my mom thid morning, the old Truman/Northdale crowd was our main topic. So I looked up a few names … and there you were (the one and only)! Is, “How are you?” appropriate after a … what would it be … 50-year hiatus?? 🙂
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Hi Peter. I go exclusively by “Lon” these days. It’s short for my second name, Lonsdale. “John” grates on my ears.
It’s been a long time. Hope you like the blog. Are you in touch with anyone from the old days?
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