Longtime readers of this blog may recall sporadic posts on the subject of encounters between Richard Strauss and American soldiers in the years of the Allied occupation of Germany. One time I pleaded for information about Major John Kramers, who is mentioned in Strauss's diary. As I report in this New Yorker blog post, I finally know more about him: Dr. Carl Ellenberger, of Mount Gretna PA, interviewed Kramers some years ago about his meeting with Strauss, and in 2012 reported his findings on the blog of the chamber-music series Gretna Music. It's the bitterwseet ending to a longtime obsession. Many thanks to Hannah Edgar, a young writer and violinist from Walnut Creek CA, for having prompted this discovery. Walnut Creek is, incidentally, the former home of the celebrated oboist John de Lancie, who inspired the Strauss Oboe Concerto.