He was Glenn Gould’s piano tuner. The New York Times has an obituary. Better: from the Glenn Gould Foundation, an appreciation by the writer Katie Hafner. An excerpt:
Over the years Verne collected dozens of tools. Some he bought from old-timers, and others he adapted from other trades. He had surgical forceps and dental explorers, which made dandy hooks, opticians’ screwdrivers for adjusting harpsichords, barber scissors for trimming felt, and shoemaker pegs for plugging holes. From the welding trade he took soapstone, a dry lubricant for the buckskin that can squeak in the action of older pianos.There’s a filmed interview too.
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I was fortunate to have met Verne in Toronto. It was in 1999 at the CBC, where I was giving a paper at the international "Glenn Gould Gathering"—a conference for all things Gould, including the awarding of Canada's "Glenn Gould Prize" (which went to Yo-Yo Ma that year). Verne had a sense of kindness and generosity that were from another time—it was the kind that silently encouraged you to stand a little straighter, speak a little more clearly, and smile a little more often.
For what it's worth I think Katie Hafner's book was excellent, too.
What a privilege to have met him.
I think the interview shows the character you describe. He made me think if some of the tradespeople I’ve known — incredibly skilled and totally unassuming.
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