Steven Dieck

President, C. B. Fisk, Inc. and employee since 1973

As part of my job as Project Manager for Charlie, it was my responsibility to schedule the work on the organ in the shop in order to get it out the door on time. One particular project fairly early in my career had me at wit’s end. Charlie must have seen this in my eyes, or one of my colleagues might have tipped him off, but he pulled me aside one day saying, “Steve, I have the sense that no one in the workshop is living up to your expectations.” I did allow that that was mostly true, and wouldn’t it be nice if we could just get rid of all of the offenders? He gave me a fatherly smile and stated the obvious, “How ever would you then get the organ built?” He continued by pointing out that each person in the shop brought his or her own particular talents to the table and all were different. My challenge was to organize things so that each person was able to bring his best to the work that lay ahead. After all, the world would be a pretty dull place if everyone thought the way I did!

Steve Dieck and Charlie look at details for the continuo organs for NEC & Yale,
Opus 66 & 66A

Photo: Robert Cornell