Matthew Caulfield's comments about Ray Siou generate fond memories.
"Curmudgeon" was the accurate word to apply.  However, to me, he was
a delightful curmudgeon who always was gracious when I purchased rolls
in person back in the late 1970s and early 1980s at his boarded-up
store-front shop.

Matthew is correct about the number of "runs" of rolls he made for
sale.  "Buy now or they will be gone," he quipped, half said in
Mandarin.  He was quite right.  I purchased every Reproduco OS/NOS roll
he had on the shelves.  Glad I did -- can't find them today, can we?

I purchased most of his Ampico and Duo-Art rolls also.  Ray allowed
me to inspect all 20 rolls of a typical run for quality.  He never
complained when I spent all day selecting rolls.  We then would go
to dinner in some hidden Chinese restaurant that served really great
dishes.  He knew that I had lived on Taiwan and would appreciate the
food as he did.

The Post Office auctions -- Ray attended those on a regular basis and
many times cleaned them out by outbidding everyone else.  Channel 7
television in San Francisco cornered him one time and asked questions
about that.  Ah, the curmudgeon had gravelly words for the microphone
that were hilarious, and the interview was thus broadcast.

Besides giving the auction items to mail order music roll buyers,
Ray gave his purchases to his mother for her church sales.  Ray also
had a large photo of Christ above his tiny, two person kitchen table,
upstairs in his small apartment.

Amid the aura of twelve cats and their piano sound board feces spots,
amid clutter everywhere, Ray would play his custom Reproduco or Arburo
dance organ while I was laboriously checking and editing the Play-Rite
recut rolls for quality.

I feel fortunate to have known him in many surroundings and I remember
him as that gentleman curmudgeon who always kept a smile upon my face.

"Zaijian", Ray, and "Thank you", Matthew!

Ray Bauer
Tahoe City, California