WRITER LOOKS ON THE FUNNY SIDE

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31658, 19 April 1968, Page 2

WRITER LOOKS ON THE FUNNY SIDE

Seeing the funny side of things is the only way to get through life without ulcers. That is the philosophy of Mrs Paul Yoder, whose disposition has also made her a successful author. Her autobiography, “Play It By Ear,” has been popular and “Tin Pan Galley,” a mixture of poetry, humour, advice, and recipes by wives of musicians is also being well received. Although she has much to contribute in her own right, her husband has been a source of inspiration and Mrs Yoder is quick to say: “He’s the most important one in the family.” Mr and Mrs Yoder, of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, are in Christchurch after a visit to Japan where Mr Yoder addressed the Japanese Bandmasters’ Association he formed two years ago. Band music is Mr Yoder’s profession. “He has more band music published in America than any living composer,” said Mrs Yoder, who is his copyist A graduate in home science, she has taught both cooking and dressmaking and took a course in hospital dietetics. Now her knowledge has found a new outlet—“ Tin Pan Galley” includes advice on how to visit a patient, glamour, cooking, and weight reduction. The recipes were gleaned from musician’s wives and relatives round the world with whom the couple are

friendly. Sir Arthur Sullivan’s punch is there, and so are recipes by the late Mrs Meredith Wilson, and the daughter of John Philip Sousa. It all started because Mr Yoder did an arrangement of numbers with foods in the titles. In 1962 the Yoders got the urge to travel and with their children grown up they were free to move. Mrs Yoder keeps copious notes and types them out when she gets home. Mrs Yoder describes her books as entertainment, and emphasises that she takes neither herself nor her writing seriously. “I love to write though, and I think it’s very good for a woman to have something to fall back on when her family are grown up.” Her first attempt at fiction will be published soon, and her next book will contain a chapter on New Zealand.