Nuts to Petrillo

One of the few nettles in the primrose path of James Caesar Petrillo has been the National Music Camp at Interlochen (Mich.), where more than 600 boys & girls study orchestra and composition every summer. Three years ago, swarthy, owl-eyed Musicians' Union Boss Petrillo decided that the ten-to 18-year-old musicians (too young to pay union dues) were "nonprofessional"; he stopped their weekly broadcasts over NBC. Gentle-mannered Dr. Joseph Edgar Maddy, Interlochen director and a union member for 36 years, switched the concerts to Michigan's noncommercial, state-owned station WKAR.

Frustrated Petrillo kept squirming until he hit upon an idea: put Interlochen on his "unfair list" and threaten its instructors with union suspension (TIME, Feb. 19). Dr. Maddy countered by employing college teachers and composers who, not dependent upon instrumental jobs, are not alarmed by Petrillo's threat. Last week he opened the camp as usual, said nonchalantly: "Now it's up to Petrillo. Actually [he] doesn't make a bit of difference. We're going on with our work."

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