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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, MARCH 12, 2018
editor@dailyastorian.com
KARI BORGEN
Publisher
JIM VAN NOSTRAND
Editor
Founded in 1873
JEREMY FELDMAN
Circulation Manager
DEBRA BLOOM
Business Manager
JOHN D. BRUIJN
Production Manager
CARL EARL
Systems Manager
OUR VIEW
See something, say something
I
t doesn’t take a medical degree to do
CPR, and that’s the point.
If only surgeons and doctors
knew how to help the victim of a heart
attack, many more people would die
of heart attacks. In the 1970s, Tacoma,
Washington led the way in training ordi-
nary U.S. citizens to perform cardiopul-
monary resuscitation. Countless lives
have been saved as a result of widespread
knowledge of CPR.
Because nearly one in five Americans
are trained to see the signs of cardiac
arrest, resuscitate the victim and call in
trained professionals to take over care,
everyone around them is safer. Same
goes for basic first aid and the Heimlich
maneuver.
But when it comes to mental health
care, we don’t have the same attitude. Too
many people feel unprepared to step into
someone else’s psychotic breakdown or
depression or capable of administering
life-saving measures that don’t involve
chest compressions. And even if they’re
WHO TO CALL
• National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255
• Spanish Language National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-888-628-9454
• SafeOregon reporting line: 844-472-3367
• Crisis Text Line: 741741
• Military Helpline: 888-457-4838 or text MIL1 to 839863
• Alcohol and Drug Helpline: 800-923-4357 or text RecoveryNow to 839863
• OregonYouthLine.org: 1-877-968-8491 or text “teen2teen” to 839863
• The Trevor Project (for LGBTQ youth): 1-866-4-U-TREVOR
• Native Youth Crisis Hotline: 1-877-209-1266
willing, they may worry they won’t have
the right words.
But just like in a heart attack, provid-
ing aid doesn’t mean solving the problem.
It means administering the necessary help
until the victim can get complete treat-
ment from a professional.
That’s the idea behind QPR (question,
persuade and refer) training, which some
county health departments around Oregon
have been offering. If more people take
on the role of “gatekeepers,” trained to
recognize and respond to those suffer-
ing a mental health crisis or having sui-
cidal thoughts, we will create a network
of support that will decrease the number
of suicides.
It’s a three-step process of questioning,
persuading and referring.
The first step is to be frank and
direct, especially about suicide. One
Oregon prevention education specialist
recently explained that you can’t
plant the idea of suicide in someone’s
mind by talking about it. Either they
are or they aren’t considering it, and by
bringing it to the open you are bringing it
out from the dark.
The signs might not be obvious, but
if someone exhibits sudden shifts in
demeanor or mood, talks about what life
would be like if they were gone or shows
an interest in getting rid of personal
belongings, it’s a good time to broach the
subject.
The next step is to persuade — to
explain that help is available and that
their life is important to you and others.
It’s important to speak in positive terms,
and not demean the person for consider-
ing suicide.
The last step is refer — knowing
where to get the person the help they
need. See the “who to call” sidebar for
some numbers to call for immediate help.
For more information on suicide
prevention, call Clatsop Behavioral
Healthcare at 503-325-5722. The 24-hour
crisis line is 503-325-5724.
Routine QPR training would be an
excellent idea in every corner of Oregon.
SOUTHERN EXPOSURE
Where ukuleles fly off the shelves
A building change
O
nly in Cannon Beach would a
music store move its stock by
pushing a piano down the street.
Michael Corry of Michael’s Music
had a little help from his friends —
among them city manager Bruce St.
Denis, a guitarist — last month as
he moved inventory from his Sunset
Boulevard location to a new spot on
South Hemlock.
Corry, a professional musician most
of his life, is best known locally as a
teacher, performer, studio engineer and
shop owner.
He’s originally
from Santa Monica,
California, and played
in garage bands from
the age of 11. After
graduation, he contin-
ued his love of music,
R.J. MARX with a year at Mount St.
Mary’s Conservatory.
His interest in world music beckoned,
and he considered studying in Hawaii
with the great guitarist Gabby Pahinui.
“I thought about going to Hawaii
and knocking on his door but I didn’t
have enough money to get to Hawaii,”
Corry recalled. “I thought about going to
Mexico and playing in a mariachi band
because I liked that, too. Then I heard
about the Ali Akbar Khan School in San
Francisco. It was the easiest to get to
from Santa Monica.”
It was there Corry studied with the
great Indian musician and sarod master.
“I went there just to learn a few
more licks on guitar,” Corry said. “I was
only going to stay for the summer. I got
hooked — I was there four years.”
Corry specialized in the sarod, an
Indian stringed instrument with a goat-
skin resonator.
“You’re actually playing with your
finger and your fingernail at the same
time,” he explained. “I used to practice
so much that my fingernails wore back
until I was bleeding.”
After leaving San Francisco, Corry
went on the road “for a lot of years”
before settling in the Lewiston-Clarkston
area of Idaho.
He raised a family and opened a
music store, living and working there
for more than two decades. When his
father died, he took a vacation to Cannon
Beach.
“I was sitting at what used to be
Dooger’s — now Pelican — and
looking at that building and thought:
‘That would be a nice place to have a
music shop.’ I thought it would cost so
much to have a shop there. But I went
and talked to the landlady and the price
was pretty good.”
In October 2001, Michael’s Music
opened its doors. It was a hit right away,
Corry said.
“The store was really supported by
the locals. A lot of businesses will open
during the summer because they’re
tourist-oriented, but I wanted to open
during the offseason so people knew I
Cannon Beach Music
Michael Corry and Daron Patton move a piano to Michael’s Music.
R.J. Marx/The Daily Astorian
Michael Corry of Michael’s Music at his new location.
was supporting the locals.”
During the economic downturn, he
fought skin cancer. “I had to keep work-
ing,” he said. “The doctor told me it’s
$1 million to build a nose and it doesn’t
always work.”
Corry said he is not in pain and
breathes better. “I keep getting things cut
off, here, and on my back. It doesn’t even
hardly hurt.”
In December, Corry’s landlord asked
him if he would be interested in renting
the nearby Hemlock location. “This hap-
pened real quick,” he said. “I think if I
had thought about it I would have chick-
ened out. It just about killed me. But this
is a much better location. It’s cleaner, I
can be more organized and I get a lot of
foot traffic.”
As in the old location, he teaches
more than 20 students of all ages at all
skill levels. He says he loves teaching,
from beginning students to advanced,
and adults returning to music.
Corry said unlike other methods, he
teaches students to play music right off.
Corry gets students playing “real songs”
right away, “not kiddie songs and dumb-
ed-down stuff.”
The method works, he said. “I’ve got
people I’ve turned into pros. But I’m
happy to sit on the beach and play Jack
Johnson stuff. I’ve taught all the way
from ages 3 to 87. The love never goes
away.”
Corry plays in the group Blue Jug
and manages a recording studio where
he plays backup on projects from the
Beatles to Beethoven — literally. He
recently performed on a recording of
Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony where he
played piano, bass and guitar.
As a songwriter and lyricist, Corry
uses local themes. “I did an album called
“Codger Pole,’” he said. “It’s a place
over in Colfax, Washington, I used a lot
of local references.”
His song “Little Bird of Falcon Cove”
employs a Hawaiian motif, a carryover
from his longtime love of world music.
But as much as he looks outward, he
keeps his heart close to home.
“Mourning Dove” was written in
the aftermath of the death of 2-year-old
Isabella Smith, murdered by her mother
Jessica Smith in a Cannon Beach hotel
room in July 2014.
“The whole story of ‘Mourning Dove’
was really about the little girl who died
trying to figure out what happened. She’s
stuck in between purgatory. That incident
had a great impact — there were some
kind of spiritual things going on with it.
I was already working on the song and
there was this mourning dove singing
outside. Then the little girl died and the
bird was gone. I thought, that’s what this
song’s about. It was such a difficult time.”
So far, the store’s 1347 S. Hemlock
St. location has proved a winner for
Corry, with new customers and stock.
Ukuleles are flying off the shelves, he
added. Other hot sellers are guitars, sheet
music and books.
Corry is trying to provide services
for what “everybody needs,” he said. “I
repair all instruments. If it’s out of my
league, I’ve got some better guys who
know what they’re doing.”
R.J. Marx is The Daily Astorian’s
South County reporter and editor of
the Seaside Signal and Cannon Beach
Gazette.