John & Romaigne were hired to play with the Recife, Brazil Symphony for a year. John was to be the Guest Soloist, with Romaigne playing in the viola section. They rented their house in Decatur to an Emory professor, sold their houseboat at Lake Lanier, placed their Samoyed dogs with Dot & John Per-Lee, got all their visa’s and vaccinations, and set off on a new adventure.
They found a great place to live in Recife, but after several months were still unable to get work visas, even though they had been hired by the government. Apparently there was some unrelated conflict between the Symphony Conductor and the Mayor. After missionary friends “disappeared” they decided to come back to the States early.
Without a home to live in, and without responsibilities otherwise, they took advantage of son Tom’s flight privileges through Southern Airways and travelled the world. They always found a church to attend on Sunday, and John kept up his perfect attendance at Rotary by finding and visiting Rotary Clubs each week.
