Scott part 4

I have written 3 blog posts so far about my friend Scott Morgan. But there has to be more. This part 4 comes direct from an email I just received from him. It is so poignant and touching and honest that I feel compelled to share it verbatim, without correcting his eccentric typographical style. Here it is:

It was. five. months ago. today....

i was sitting in the hospital room after a biopsy,colonoscopy,etc 

that my. surgeon wthree other doctors. came into. my room

in my groggy state ,i sat up. and said hello

she. the surgeon,then asked. me ? do i kow. my name,where was I,did i know. what operations were done. few. hours earlier,was I aware of. what hospial I was in whats my oncologist name

i replied,got. an a on the test. and. she leaned. in

close. and said

your. cancer is back.............ok,I said

she then proceeded. to explain it was outside. my. stomach,spreading. fast

uncontainable ,unoperable,any more treatment. was fruitless,no. chemo or operation was going. to help. in future,that. I. had. two maybe. four. months. to. live

and. to. go. home

make. my. plans.  on whats. next,and it was way past stage. four.

to. say the least. i was speechless. and. sat ataring.  at. the four. of them in silence

I said. ok. thanks,and. asked. when i could leave. unc. chapel n.c.  and. head. back. home. to. tell

katy.

four. five. hours. later. i was. dressed and out. door,at. the exit, i knew i was. going to India

to remain. for. the. time. I was. told had. left. to live.

made appts. the next week w surgeon. and oncologist of last four years

and was picked up. soon driven home.........

two weeks later was onindian. soil in new delhi nov 2

its. now. five months. later.

my stomach. is flat,the expansion of fluids was drained two mo. ago

22-1/2 pounds lighter,

and. my pain. management changed. from methadone,to patches on my shoulder 

that send morphine like drugs,fifty x stronnger,

into my. body 24/7

changed every 72 hours 

i am walking.  getting out daily. by wheelchair. seeing. the ocean. smiling at every ,person i see

jovial,happy. and. seeing. doctors weekly in my hotel room,all are amazed at. my good spirit. health,blood pressure,happy go lucky. good vibes,was bedridden. not. to walk ever 

again and losing. pounds. fast ,until. now,

feeling. good.  have. eating. plumbing. problems,daily,but. out of. pain

see the sun come up n go down. 

glad. to be here in goa. india. and. not. a bed in a hospital with. tubes n chemo and nurses all

over surrounded by sick people ,

have. made. a choice to be in a place where. i. can control. my. destiny my future. and. 

will know when time.  is up.

so

you only live once

make. time. to. stop. your. busy. life and. remember. every. day. whats important

in the end. you are alone,but. 

spend time with. your family. and friends. and. do the. things you always wanted

go. to the places. you have dreamed about. to visit. stay focused on

whats. the most. important. things. in. your. life

i. am 62 yrs old,had wondeful life full of. love. travel seeing. the. art of the world. 

am with the most loving amazing woman caring woman on the planet

and  happy. .camper.

sending.  love. and thanks. to all I have known. thruout my life

its all about.       family n freinds in the end

enjoy. your. stay on this crowded planet. make time. to smell the roses

its. my. five month anniversary

wow. this has been some. journey

love. n hugz to all

scott david morgan

For the Twitter Skeptics

I’ve been on Twitter since 2009, and from the start have been frequently questioned skeptically about its relevance to my business. I was skeptical too, for about three days when I started myself. I left the initial set up of my account and the first few tweets to my assistant. She found designers and followed about twenty of them. After a few days I think we had about double that number following me and that meant sudden exposure to forty or so designers I did not already know. With no marketing expense I had accomplished a great first step in spreading the word about my products and services to new contacts all over the Country.

I have always looked at tools as just that – a device that can help you. Granted, there are only so many ways to use a shovel, but there are many more ways to use Twitter, and I’m sure that I don’t know many of them. At High Point in 2010 I had a Twitter based contest called “Tweet for a Table.” The Market Authority Director came and helped kick off the contest. We had people tweeting from all over the Country their entries and introduced many new people to Twitter through the live stream of tweets we had in our showroom. 

In subsequent shows we did a few “tweet ups” including one with twitter cupcakes for the attendees. Artisan North Carolina home made cupcakes with the Twitter bird on a branch.

So far, having an all - Twitter crew of suppliers (@meredithheron and @ziapriven) a designer (@carisamarie11) and the central furniture maker (@johnstrauss) has built up a great deal of interest in our upcoming April High Point Market show. (Suites at Market Square, Salon G-7013)  I have been amazed and delighted by the conversation so far. I look forward to it continuing in North Carolina, meeting many new people I have encountered so far only online, and seeing familiar faces that I have had the pleasure of meeting face to face already.

Through Twitter, I have met @KathyIreland and one day may work with her, have established a relationship with @TLSByDesign as an upholstery house, have met new clients with real paying jobs, and have quoted for and have consulted with many others. This is one virtual community that has crossed over and become a real part of my world. Still skeptical? 

Amish Country

parallel parking

Part of the pleasure of being located in North East Ohio, is being adjacent to the Amish Community nearby. My business has developed a need to visit this area at least once a week and the landscape is always changing.

down a chairmaker's driveway

buggy for pleasure riding and commuting

workhorses do all the field work that a combine would

During the growing season, every week, different vegetables and fruits are available at roadside stands. During the Winter, occasional snows transform the landscape.

It has become a joy for me to discover something different every time I visit the region. I have also gotten to know several of the business people that I do business with and have shared my knowledge of Judaism with them while I have learned about their faith.

There are many different varieties of beliefs in the Amish, which is divided into different "orders". Each order is led by a lay person who has drawn a "lot" to become the local prayer leader. Most of the orders do not permit their faces to be photographed. So, I have focused on the lush landscape and also have documented many factories.

I plan on sharing some of the factory shots in my next post.

April in High Point

I am excited about the many things that Twitter has brought into my life and business. One recent fortuitous turn of events has come about in relation to my next Market in High Point. I approached Carisa Bell, a Seattle designer who has not previously participated in High Point about the possibility of helping to design my showroom this market. She and I "met" on Twitter where she is @carisamarie11. I liked her design sense, her fresh take on urban decor and her interest in repurposing and recycled and "green" materials. It turns out that she also admired my furniture designs and thus a conversation was started. I was pleased to hear that she was not only willing to do the work but was enthusiastic about the project. In discussing needs we had for lighting and floor treatments, we first began to think about companies we knew, either in her business or that I had met in High Point. But, it occurred to us both that it made much more sense to approach people we knew on Twitter that have great products in those categories. That led us to very appreciative support from Zia Priven Lighting (@ziapriven) and also from Meredith Heron Design's (@meredithheron) new rug/hide line. High Point will be her debut. I am thrilled to be working with this group, and we will be featuring photos of the project as it comes together. Stay tuned and be sure to visit us in Salon, G-7013 in the Suites at Market Square building this Market.

Scott Morgan part 3

I'm sure I could keep going on about Scott for several long additional posts but I will try to keep this one concise and to the point, and the last in a series of 3 posts. Scott had battled an intestinal cancer for the first time soon after we met, seemed over it and then it returned right before the last October High Point Market. When the doctors told him the battle was over and it would be essentially a matter of months, he made two key decisions: 1) He wanted to have a big party in High Point while all of his friends in the industry were present in town and 2) afterwards, he wanted to travel to India to live out his days, weeks or months with Katy.

That is what we did with him in High Point and that is what he did after. He is now in Goa, India. Its a resort town in the South of the Country that attracts Germans, Russians, and assorted World travelers from all over. He met one of the sons of Bob Marley in a hotel there. Its warm (or hot) and he has medical care. Katy has been doing an amazing and heroic job of supporting him every step of the way.

myself, Louis Lara and Eric Bauer

At the party, Scott told jokes, gave out some of his favorite ties from his tie collection, ate some food, did pet tricks with the dogs and generally took in the glow of so many friends from over the years. Most have know Scott longer than I have. If you were there, and you know who you are, thanks for showing your support. If you have emailed, called or visited Scott while he is India, you have done a good thing. Keep him in your thoughts. He will always be in mine. If you read this, send him some love.

Scott Morgan Part 2

My previous post talked about how Scott and I met and got started on our business adventure in the furniture industry. I have only known Scott for about five or so years although it feels like we have been friends our whole lives. But I wanted to talk about a few other aspects of Scott's life and mind and character and interests here. One aspect of Scott's life has been a blossoming in the last few years of his watercolor paintings. I'm not sure when he started doing these, but they have really come on in numbers and artistic quality in the last two or three years. As mentioned previously, he is also a "jazz singer" of sorts.

One of the amazing aspects of visiting Scott in his home is that he has a most amazing collection of Chinese textiles and artifacts from his many visits over the years doing business in China. He became a connoisseur of Chinese crafts, history, and art. Scott took real pleasure in sharing his treasures with visitors, but only if he felt that he could trust the visitor and that the visitor would truly appreciate what was being shown. Trunks and drawers would be opened to pull out centuries old delicacies of sewing, embroidery and other skills. He also had like many collectors, tangential collections of items like carved  nuts and brass coins, and gold embroidery. He also had a couple of shaman necklaces. 

One evening after a day in the showroom at High Point, Doug Miller, Richard Hawk, Candra Squire and I and a few others gathered in Scott's living room and he started pulling items out of a trunk to show us. One of those items was the shaman's necklace. We stood in a circle and watched as first Rich was handling it. Scott said that this necklace has "some powerful mojo" and we all basically said "sure" cynically. A moment later, Rich started practically howling about what he was feeling. Now Rich is a great guy, but he does have a bit of the Southern California spirit in him so we all reacted rather skeptically to him as well. I asked for the necklace. I am not a believer in crystals, new age spirituality or ghosts. So I was ready for - nothing. Instead, this necklace which contained teeth, coins, crystals, hair, and other assorted trinkets pulsated with an electricity that traveled up and down my arm. I immediately gave it back. It was not necessarily a good feeling and seemed ominous, but there is no doubt that it did occur. This was just one of the items hiding, laying, waiting for the next opportunity for someone to discover it.

Another thing to know about Scott is that he loves ping pong. He bought an expensive German ping pong table and created a room down in his basement that is a bit of a ping pong shrine. Although an amateur ( I'm sure there are pros out there somewhere ) he is quite good. When it comes to competition, he turns it up a notch. I'm not bad, but in the dozens of games we played, I never beat him once. He has a paddle collection, so that anyone can come and play and select their favorite paddle and never use the lack of a comfortable paddle as an excuse if they were to lose. He also had a page of ping pong rules posted on the wall. He also owned a ping pong ball machine similar to a tennis feeding machine. This was not your High School party in the basement ping pong that I had grown up with. However, my tennis skills allowed me to keep the games close enough to be competitive. They were always great opportunities to talk about a range of topics. 

There is so much to talk about in relation to Scott. He loves his dogs Loulie and Hershey. Loulie 1 and her successor Loulie 2 were extremely well trained intelligent companions that transcended being pets. He supported Katy and her art making and business ventures. He did not suffer fools gladly. He loves art and collecting. He is not caught up in what other people think of him. He is a natural salesman. He knows the furniture industry inside and out, could look at a piece and understand how it was made (even though he is not a craftsman), would know how much it cost to make and would understand how it should be marketed. And he loves talking about it. He is critical of bad design, encouraging of his friends and good design and loves people that are smart and have something to offer. 

Last story in this post from an email that Scott sent out:

"of these beads, history.....
1968
in  a park in new delhi. india.......
a man very old 80/90 years old, in orange comes up to me. scotto
no words, no reason.  takes off the beads, puts them around my neck, smiles walks on very slow into the park never to be seen by me again

these i have always had.

cherished kept safe and the day before our journey to Goa put on ...with original string.  by now very threadbare .when i put them on my neck string broke. i screamed.  oh no!
all the beads hit floor in High Point. NC. home
scattered. i picked them  up  put in a baggie and said maybe i will re string these in India in Goa  after we arrive.
then  I will give them to someone
same as was given to me." - SM

more to come in the next post....

Scott Morgan

Scott Morgan

I first met Scott about five years ago when I was showing at my first Las Vegas Market show. His Sister Lindy stopped by my booth and after chatting for a little while, we started making connections. We were both from the same North Chicago suburb. Our Fathers were in the furniture business. We have a unique perspective on life that probably shows in our demeanor. She said, "You have to meet my Brother!" He came by and we talked for probably an hour and haven't stopped since. 

It turns out that our Fathers were not only in the business but did business with each other in Chicago. It also turns out that we had a immediate sense of bonding with each other. Scott had been a consultant in the industry as well as a salesman for his Family's Ello Furniture business before they sold it, and through his experiences, it seems that he practically knows everyone in the industry. We became friends and I got to know him through spending time with him and his partner Katy  Algeyer while in North Carolina at the High Point Markets. I stayed at his house. We played ping pong. Most importantly, he took me around the Market and introduced me to people in the Industry that he admired and had worked with. Together we came up with the concept of bringing back furniture manufacturing business to the US.

Many a dinner was spent discussing the plan, some of it at his favorite Thai restaurant in High Point, where he could get up from the table and sing some "scat" or spontaneous lyrics to the jazz music that was being played. Our conversations were timely, because even though at that point the Marketplace was not fully ready for the concept, manufacturers were open to considering it. They had been having issues of quality, shipping time, exchange rate uncertainty, etc and wanted a back up plan. Many of these companies were the same ones that Scott had taken to China on his many business visits there over the last 20 years. Now it was time to work on returning. 

Scott is always thinking of ideas. They seem to come to him in torrents. He had suggestion after suggestion for me. We talked constantly about this new venture. I had experience with working with the Amish community in Ohio through manufacture of my designs in their factories. I have learned a little about their culture and have met several great business people there, some very forward looking. We learned how this could benefit all of us. For the last two years, I have been devoting a great deal of time to developing this business plan. Scott has been there with me every step of the way. 

Scott is in India now. He is there to spend the remaining days of his too short life with Katy and several friends who have visited him there. Katy has created a blog about their adventure called going to goa . You can catch up with what is happening there. Goa, India is an international resort community in the South of India. 

 I will talk more about Scott in my next post.