I had the great pleasure of meeting Carrol Spinney the day he arrived for a NZ vacation. I was playing a Sunday afternoon gig in the hotel Carrol and his wife checked in to. He came up after the show and thanked us for the music and became instant friends. For the next two weeks we hung out and dined together almost every night to the great delight of my then 10 year old daughter. Truly a great talent (his original career was as an illustrator) and a fine gentleman.