My great uncle Harmon Satterlee in his shop (Satterlee and Chapin, San Francisco) where he serviced and built stringed instruments for musicians in SF for decades. There’s some debate about whether or not he built David Crosby’s Frankenstein Martin 12 string. Only met him a couple times. Also did not inherit his hairline. #luthier
My mother’s father Charlie. Gone long before I was born. My middle name is Charles. When we were talking about names for our daughter, Dave was a serious contender but Charlie won out (legally Charlotte.) Because of her I think about him often even though we never met. He was born in San Pedro. His father worked for Bethlehem Steel in the port of LA and was killed at work in an incident that involved a wrecking ball. Charlie was a promising jockey in his youth but suffered a career ending injury early on. After the war he made his living as a farrier at various race tracks on the circuit eventually landing at Santa Anita where he and my grandmother both worked. He died at the stables there of a heart attack. I don’t know much more about the man. There’s never been a lot of talk about him. The old photographs that I’ve scanned are fascinating to me. No answers here. Just great photographs of a guy I never met who’s hairline I did not inherit.
