Mark Andrew Casey, a native of Jackson, Tennessee, became the band director at Milan High School in Milan, Tennessee, during the 1951-52 school year, and he left in 1959.
     I first met Mr. Casey when I became a member of the school band at the beginning of the 1952-53 school year while I was in the fourth grade at K.D. McKellar Elementary School in Milan.  He gave the newly enrolled band members a list of various instruments from which to choose, and for some unexplainable reason I decided that I wanted to learn to play the alto saxophone.  So Dad purchased an inexpensive Elkhart student model instrument at Wallick’s Music Store in nearby Jackson.  Little did I know at the time that the acquisition of this saxophone was the beginning of a lifelong adventure.
     I shall never forget the first time I held an alto saxophone.  Mr. Casey showed me how to assemble the instrument and place my fingers on the appropriate keys.  The first note which he taught me to play was “C.”  When I first began learning to play I was intimidated and frustrated because the only kind of sounds which I could create on the instrument were a dreadful combination of horrible squawks and squeaks.  However, Mr. Casey patiently persisted (sometimes not so patiently), day after day and week after week, so that gradually the wrong notes and horrible sounds were replaced by the more refined musical tones which the alto saxophone is designed to produce.
     During my sophomore year Mr. Casey pointed out the fact to my dad that I needed a new instrument.  He said that my little Elkhart saxophone had served its purpose and needed to be replaced by a better, newer, and more durable instrument.  He said that I had outgrown the old horn and needed something which would be more permanent.  Dad agreed and asked him what he would recommend.  Mr. Casey recommended the Selmer Mark VI model.  He said that although it would be an expensive investment it was the finest quality saxophone one could purchase.  Words cannot express my joyous surprise when Dad agreed with Mr. Casey’s recommendation.  I shall never forget the trip my parents and I made to Amro Music Store in Memphis where Dad purchased the Selmer Mark VI alto sax for me.  I cannot imagine the anxiety my father must have experienced over having to pay so much money for an expensive instrument on his meager income.  I still have this instrument, and I treasure it.  Even though the pads and springs have had to be replaced (thanks to Pete Evans, former Milan High School band director, who did the repairs) that little horn still makes that same sweet sound which it has always made across the years.
     My early memories of Mr. Casey are firmly fixed in my mind, and with deep appreciation and fondness I have replayed these treasured mental pictures over and over countless times on the screen of my mind.  I can still see him standing before our concert band on the stage in the old high school auditorium: conducting the daily 1 p.m. rehearsals; lifting his conductor’s baton; giving the downbeat; stopping us when we made mistakes; telling individuals and sections where they were not playing in the right time and how the composers had intended for the compositions to be played.
     He worked long and hard at task of enabling us to play our best and to fully prepare us for the night of the annual band concert.  In my memory I look around that stage, and even though a number of those band members are now deceased, all their faces are still there, and they are still playing.  There they are: Bruce Chapman playing trumpet; Larry Long beating the drums; Rogers Warren blowing into his slide trombone; and David Ragland wailing away on his clarinet.  I’m sitting in the saxophone section where to my right is Bobby Jones, and to my left is Sammy Jennings.  Annelle Cantrell is playing the flute.  There’s Billy Spellings, Beverly Douglass, Jim Trobaugh, Jerry Douglass, Chester Daniels, Jim Wiley, Mickey Code, John Oliver Threadgille, Kay Frances Jones, Lolita Pew, Jerry Stallings, Dickey Bryant, Donald Fisher, Janice Medlock, Richard York, Tom Carey, Joan Barrow, Paula Nance, Nancy Scott, and all the rest.  As I recall my stored memories of sitting and playing in that wonderful gathering of band members from yesteryear, now more than ever I am thankful for God’s gift of the magic of memory which makes it possible for me to replay those unforgettable and priceless scenes.
     I can still see Mr. Casey high up in the grandstands overlooking the football field and shouting out directions and instructions to us through his megaphone as we marched and created various group formations in rehearsal for the weekly Friday-night football game.  I also recall his walking alongside us as we marched in Christmas parades, the Strawberry Festival at Humboldt, Tennessee, the Fish Fry at Paris, Tennessee, the Cotton Carnival at Memphis, Tennessee, and the Governor’s Parade in Nashville, Tennessee.  With a no-nonsense look on his face, in a firm voice he would bark out such commands as: “Keep those lines straight; stay in step; pay close attention to the drum major up front; listen to the drum cadence; and play the right notes in the right time.”  He was relentless in his efforts to shape us into an outstanding marching band.  Depending on the weather and the temperature, I did a lot of sweating--as well as freezing--beneath that old heavy purple and white band uniform.  I can remember a number of times during our cold weather performances when the temperature was so cold that it was difficult to move my fingers over the keys of my instrument.  I still recall how difficult it was to march on feet which were numb due to the freezing temperatures.  One year it was so cold during the Christmas parade at Martin, Tennessee, that one of our majorettes fainted and had to be wrapped in a blanket.  I never have been able to understand the wisdom in having young ladies wear skimpy uniforms during frigid weather.
     Mr. Casey was extremely demanding, and he worked diligently and conscientiously at the task of enabling us to develop our talents to the fullest and be the best we could be.
     As I reflect back to my childhood and adolescence I realize that Mr. Casey had a profound effect on my life.  Little did I know when he began teaching me how to play the alto saxophone when I was in the fourth grade that he was giving me one of the most special and important gifts I would ever receive.  It has been one of those priceless, positive, and precious gifts which lasts, multiplies, and brings joy not only to the recipient but also to others through the recipient.  Across these many years playing the saxophone has been an enjoyable lifelong hobby that has brought relaxation, enjoyment, and balance to my life; the opportunity for creative expression; a chance to be with others who also enjoy playing music; and an opportunity to bring a little happiness to others.  These are some of the basic ingredients which are essential to maintaining health and wellbeing over the long haul in life.
     One of the bands with which I now play was performing one evening a few years ago in a nursing home in Savannah, Tennessee, and a very nice elderly lady who was a resident there came up to me following our performance and expressed how much she and the others appreciated our taking the time to come and  play for them.  As I drove away from the parking lot that night I thought about those elderly people who were in attendance at our performance.  Some came to the performance area on walkers; some were in wheel chairs; and one elderly gentleman was even rolled in on his bed.  I thought about the day-in and day-out routine of these people’s lives in that nursing home.  Tears filled my eyes as I thought back to the time when Mr. Casey taught me to play, and once again I realized just what a priceless gift he had given me--a gift that helps to bring a bit of happiness and pleasure to those who gather to listen.  That is part of what life is all about--bringing enjoyment to others.
     In other words Mr. Casey’s gift to me has been one of those “gifts that keep on giving.”  He opened for me that door into the wonderful world of music which has blessed my life beyond words.  From him I learned to appreciate the world’s great music and its composers.  From what he taught me about marching I learned the deeper lesson about integrating myself into the larger groups and formations of life and my individual responsibility to the whole of humanity.  This was an important lesson on how an individual is responsible to others in the big scheme of things.  Thus, he gave me the kind of priceless gift that has become more important with the passing of each year.
     After twenty-eight years as band director at Glenridge Middle School and Boone High School in Florida, Mr. Casey retired in 1985.  However, before his death I was delighted to be able to tell him by telephone that when I was a boy he planted in my mind some seed thoughts which over the years had matured and which I had used as the basis for The Music of Life, one of the novels which I have written.  The names of Mark Casey and Charles Cobb appear on the dedication page of that book.
     Mark Andrew Casey died on Saturday, December 7, 1991, at the age of sixty-five at Winter Park Memorial Hospital in Winter Park, Florida.  His funeral service was conducted by Reverend Richard M. Walsh at the Chapel of St. Margaret Mary Catholic Church in Winter Park at 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, December 10th.  He was buried in Glen Haven Memorial Park at Winter Park.
     But to me Mr. Casey is not dead--not in the deeper sense--because every time I play my saxophone he is still right there with me.  Every time I read through a piece of music, or listen to a beautiful recording, I can still see him up in front of our old school band, waving his baton, and directing.  When I met him, I had no way of knowing what an important role he would play in my life, but after all these years I can truly say that having the golden opportunity to have known him has been one of the greatest experiences of my life!  I am who I am in the present moment, in part, due to the profound and marvelous influence of such wonderful and great persons as Mark Casey.
     It is comforting to know that Mr. Casey has joined that larger band of musicians who are with God in heaven, and he is now marching to a different drumbeat and playing that music which is eternal.
     Mr. Casey, thanks for all you have given to me and the rest of your students.  We owe you more than we will ever be able to repay.  And we solemnly promise that we will try to “keep those lines straight, stay in step, pay attention to the drum major, listen to the cadence, and play the right notes in the right time.” (DHL)