I apologise to those on the list who are not members of the Northumbrian Pipers' Society, but, as there is no alternative place to post my comments, I will post them here.
I was sorry to hear of the demise of Jim Bryan. I served on the NPS committee with him in times B.C. (Before Colin). I had thought of Joyce Quin as president before the current committee's decision. She is local and a player of the pipes. I find her a very likeable person. The fact that she is a politician is irrelevant, as the NPS is nonpolitical. I believe that she would be above any internal Society squabbles whilst raising the Society's profile in the wider world. To be perfectly blunt, I believe that much of the disunity in the Society is due to Colin Ross himself. He has set himself up as the sole arbiter in all things related to the pipes. On several occasions I, and others, have received letters from Colin when we have done something which did not meet his approval. He has also criticised other pipemakers in public. Colin professes to desire unity in the Society, but unity would be on his terms. The president should be neutral in matters of the Society; Colin could never meet this requirement. Robbie Greensitt -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
