Dennis, My Prison Pen-Pal –

Can you picture a flute made out of five cardboard cores of toilet paper rolls and scotch tape? He has fashioned the instrument as a close-to-exact replica of a real longitudinal (ala Native American) flute. He says "It was tuned to C , with the embouchure hole 48 mm from the closed end", adding "I took off (with a nail clipper!) about 1.5 cm to bring it up to a D". The five cardboard cores were saved and accumulated over a period of time, probably while the concept formed in his mind. A while back, he was attempting to root orange seeds in dampened paper towel, but he had to scrap the project because prison policy did not allow it. Imagine what life must be like for a prison inmate who, like Dennis, is a creative and talented musician. The tedium must be very difficult; yet, he’s come up with some remarkable art work, too (see picture of treble clef). I’ve been exchanging letters with him now, through a church program, for almost a year; I’m sure I get as much out of it as he does.