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ARTIST PROFILE BOB GOLDISH CLARINETIST, RETIRED PHYSICIAN
Duluth News-Tribune (MN)Duluth
News-Tribune (MN) - Sunday, August 3, 1997
Author: News-Tribune
Age: 73
Lives in: Duluth's East Hillside neighborhood.
Medium: Goldish is clarinetist for the Duluth Klezmer Band
and has played for a variety of other ensembles, including the Hungry Five
swing band, the Duluth Musicians Union Band, the Duluth Community Band and
the Twin Ports Wind Ensemble.
History: A lifelong Duluthian, Goldish graduated from Duluth
Central High School and the medical school at the University of Minnesota in
the Twin Cities. After serving as a flight surgeon with the U.S. Air Force, Goldish
practiced at the Veterans Administration in the Twin Cities. He returned to
Duluth to practice medicine in 1953 and retired in 1989.
Goldish started playing a saxophone at age 13, switching to
the clarinet shortly thereafter
Influences: ``(Benny) Goodman was my idol, because of his improvisational
abilities and his tone. I tried to emulate him -- tried, but never could get
near. I was most complimented when I was sitting in with a Twin Cities band
at a wedding or bar mitzvah or something a few years ago. One of the guys
said, `Hey! You listened to Goodman!' I thought if he could hear that, I must
have a little of (Goodman) in me.''
Why I do what I do: Years ago, when Goldish was practicing
medicine and appearing in a Duluth Playhouse production, a reporter asked him
the same thing. ``Some people go fishing,'' he recalled explaining. ``Some go
hunting. I go acting.''
Today, he appends the following to that sentiment: ``I guess I do it for fun
and for an ego trip.''
When I tell people what I do . . . ``They think I'm really lucky and I think
I'm really lucky. I tell people, especially young physicians just starting
out, to see if you can have one or two hobbies that you enjoy so much that
you can follow up on them after you've retired.''
If money were no object, . . . ``there's a variety of charities that I would
distribute a chunk to and a variety of relatives that I would distribute a
chunk to and a variety of friends I would distribute some smaller chunks to.
. . . I'd do like the big boys do, have a private jet plane with a pilot and
a car with all the appurtenances -- the things you see in movies. And I'd
sponsor some artsy things -- instead of only amassing a fortune, I'd like to
leave some kind of legacy. I think our immortality is in what we leave
behind, not in some other place.''
The primary responsibility of an artist is . . . ``to give pleasure to the
viewer or hearer, to stimulate them, and if honest and true and if you're
lucky, to educate them.''
State of the arts in the community: ``It's burgeoning. . . . In the last
number of years, there are certainly better facilities for artists. . . . The
college scene has become magnificent for theater in the time we've been here.
. . . It sort of reminds me of when I was in residency in Minneapolis and
there was the Guthrie and Dudley Riggs (an improvisational comedy troupe) and
other things happening. I think (in Duluth), on a smaller scale, that kind of
volcano is building here and in the surrounding communities. The other thing
is that there's a certain amount of camaraderie in music and theater now
because there are so many people involved.''
Now performing: Goldish can be seen with the Duluth Klezmer
Band, which played at Saturday's Duluth International Folk Festival, and at
periodic jam sessions in various venues throughout the community.
Caption: PHOTO: By Charles Curtis/News-Tribune
Bob Goldish , a retired Duluth physician, enjoys playing the
clarinet. He performs with the Duluth Klezmer Band and has played with a
variety of other ensembles, including the Duluth Community Band and Twin
Ports Wind Ensemble.
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