John Gerrish

Gerrish was the son of Charles Percy Gerrish and Mary Elizabeth O'Neill of Potsdam, New York. He graduated from Crane School of Music in 1930, and led a dance band during the 1930s. He taught for ten years at Franklin Academy in Malone, New York and was a professor of music at Kean University in New Jersey for most of his career.[3]

In addition to The Falcon, Gerrish's better-known works include Variations on a Burgundian Carol for 3 Recorders, based on the carol Patapan, published in New York by Associated Music Publishers in 1957. Reviewer, Joel Newman, called the work "neatly-constructed, fun-to-play, but merely-cute variations."[4] Other published compositions include Why do the Bells of Christmas Ring? (1952) a cappella choir, I Sing A Maiden (1953), Fifteen Christmas melodies for soprano recorder and piano (1954), and the piano solos Country Dance, Mountain Climbing and South Wind (1954).

The Music Educators Journal published a detailed article and interview "A Family Program for Voices, Recorders, and Viols: The Gerrish Family" in 1962.[5] The New York State Teachers Association, Northern Zone, lists John Gerrish as Chairman of Music Section in Malone, New York, September 29, 1939.[6]

Gerrish married twice. After the death of his first wife, Marion Benham of Saranac Lake, he married Claire Stackpole of Winooski.[3] Following his retirement, Gerrish was the organist at the Winooski United Methodist Church for twenty years.[3] He died on November 29, 2010, and is buried at St. Mary's Cemetery, Potsdam.[3]