The author is a retired colonel of the Indiana State Police Department and an Associate Professor Emeritus of Indiana University, Indianapolis, where he taught law courses in the Criminal Justice program. He discovered bluegrass music in 1961 at Bean Blossom, after going there to hire Bill Monroe to play for a pistol match banquet. A friendship developed between Monroe and the Peva family that lasted until Monroe’s death in 1996. He has attended all of the June festivals at Bean Blossom since they began, and in 2003, originated a campaign for a commemorative postage stamp honoring Bill Monroe. See www.billmonroestamp.org.