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The family of Harold F Cook uploaded a photo
Tuesday, September 10, 2019
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Fred Carpenter posted a condolence
Thursday, August 1, 2013
Oh, where do I start? I first met Mr. Cook in the eighties at Adirondack Music in Boonville. My mother had given me an old Martin guitar, which I had professionally repaired, and I wanted to learn how to play it better. I already played using basic chords but it wasn't long before I had an electric guitar and he was teaching me jazz licks and music theory.
In 1993 I moved my family to Camden and "Cookie" insisted that I take lessons at his home, rather than drive all the way to Boonville every week. We became good friends and as our relationship developed he became not just my teacher, but also my mentor. He taught me so much more than guitar, which we both enjoyed very much. We shared our life's problems, some of them pretty darn close to the heart. I went through some really difficult times with my jobs and work, but he never wavered. He guided me through those times with gentle conversation and music. I tried to do the same for him. On one particular occasion, he had a tough life problem and I played a song for him that I had really worked on. He stopped accompanying me and just listened - I could see out of the corner of my eye that he was crying - I think I had touched an area of his heart that reminded him of other musician friends who had passed on, or maybe it was just that song. I was going to stop taking lessons once because I couldn't afford it any more and he wouldn't let me. We met nearly every week for years and sometimes we didn't even play any music at all! The whole lesson was conversation about what was going on in our lives. When our daughter got married, he helped me work up a couple of songs, which we did over a month or two. Then he came to the wedding and accompanied me - it turned what would have been my mediocre performance into a treasure!
My work became more successful and incredibly busy, and we were both getting older. Arthritis was limiting his ability to play as much and over time we met less often. I stopped in to see him and Flo occasionally, but I didn't want to be a burden to him, ever. But alas, I now think that I didn't stop in often enough. The last time was a month or so before his passing. After that nobody came to the door when I knocked, but I never realized why. I guess I never dreamed that he could fall ill.
I still have a couple of guitars that I bought from Cookie - a Gibson ES335 and the gorgeous Epiphone Emperor II. I treasure them both. I also have all our music lesson material and some recordings we've done. I will never forget his gentle kindness and I make sure I take my vitamin C every day.
Fred Carpenter
2394 Moran Post Road
Camden, NY 13316
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Gerald R. Crouse,Jr posted a condolence
Friday, July 2, 2010
Sorry to hear of Harold's passing. Harold----Cookie as I new him taught me a lot about the guitar as I took lessons from him for 10 years up at Adirondack Music in Boonville. Cookie came to our house and gave me a lesson once at Christmas time. My wife Rosemary and I really liked "Cookie" and respected his vast knowledge of the guitar and musical notation. Our Condolences, Gerald and Rosemary Crouse--Boonville,NY
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Linda Costello Taffi posted a condolence
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
I first met Harold Cook when I was a young bride-to-be planning my wedding in the summer of 1978. Harold graciously accepted me into his home and his family from the very beginning. He and Florence offered to cater the wedding reception, something to which I readily agreed after tasting just a few of Harold's culinary specialties: sausage and peppers, ham dinners and fabulous roasts. Everything Harold cooked up was a delight.
Harold was truly a remarkable man. At nearly 60 years of age, he was newly retired from his career at the fire station, but he was hardly a man in retirement. That first summer, Harold was building low-income housing, playing steady gigs with his band around the state, giving guitar lessons, and taking classes toward his Bachelor's Degree in Psychology. Oh - and golfing in several leagues at once. There wasn't a night that Harold didn't have something going on in the summertime. Though he was always very active and busy, he managed to find time to devote to his family as well.
In the late 80's and early 90's, I decided to work on my Master's Degree in the summers at Potsdam, so the whole family flew to New York State from Puerto Rico. It was Harold who would pick us up in Syracuse and open his home so we could make it our home for the summer. He always made it clear that we were welcome there whenever we wanted. Whatever we wanted to do was fine with him. He never once made any of us feel like we were anything other than family who had come home to stay for awhile.
When Matthew was born, Harold overcame his aversion to flying and visited us in Puerto Rico. He endured a place that was very foreign and uncomfortable at the time just to show us his support and happiness that we were now a family. Harold was able to watch Matt grow up, and kept up with his progress, even though we lived 1500 miles away. It was Harold who instilled the love of golf in Matthew, and Grampa was the first to assemble a set of clubs for Matt so he could pursue the game, which he has continued to play into adulthood.
Harold loved to use his knowledge of psychology to have philosophical discussions about life. He was a very gentle man who understood that giving his time, his support, and his love to his family and friends was the best way to see them through the tough times in life. Harold set aside his intense dislike for boarding a plane yet another time to come to Puerto Rico and help my family through a time of upheaval. His presence and calm demeanor led us to reassess the advantages we had and to resolve our crisis.
I always thought Harold should have been a doctor - whether a therapist or a family practitioner. His vast knowledge about health and nutrition, cures and prevention, made him a valuable go-to source for advice about how to deal with just about anything related to health. I remember being awed by the mini dishes chock full of vitamins that he would take at various times throughout the day, but to this day I take a handful of supplements myself, because long ago Harold recommended them.
From the time I first met Harold, he became a much larger paternal influence on my family and on me than our biological fathers ever were. Harold was always a letter or a phone call or a plane ride or a drive away, someone who would do anything for family or a friend in need. I'm going to miss his sage advice, his philosophical discussions about life, his left-of-center political ideology, his lounge chair and crossword dictionary, his workshop full of tools, his golf shoes in the middle of the floor, his guitars and music, his boxes of vitamins, his kindness, his cravings for ice cream, and his love of family, of which I have been fortunate to be a part. My life has been enriched and blessed by knowing Harold, and he will forever hold a very special place in my heart.
Linda Costello Taffi
June 23, 2010