My blog post last week, Feldenkrais Never Did This, Correct? was a simple attempt to get some stories and first person accounts from people from the early years of the Feldenkrais world. It failed on that account. But thanks to a long time blog reader, I got ahold of some new (to me) material that I can share with you.
Of particular interest is the court docket from the service mark lawsuit back in 2000. Are you familiar with my writing on the topic? Here is a reasonably complete article on it, though I am starting to think that it demands the treatment of a full-length book. The court docket helped me understand why the guild settled with Anat Baniel. Quite simply, in the pretrial phase the judge refused to dismiss Anat's claim that the FGNA did not own the service marks and set a date for a full trial. The Guild apparently got scared (who can blame them) of what might happen in a trial and settled the lawsuit.
If you have any documents - letters, court filings, notes, transcripts - or anything else that might shed light on ANY aspect of Feldenkrais history (not just the lawsuit) I would like to have a copy. I am particularly interested in what Feldenkrais thought about the guild and what plans he had or did not have for his service marked terms. For example, the letter mentioned in this blog post Feldenkrais: "I have No Interest In The Guild," would be quite a find.
Though I clearly have my own biases and point of view, if what you have is of interest, I will publish it in its entirety so that folks can make up their own minds. You can send emails to me via my contact form, where you can also find a mailing address for me. Or you can email me: ryan AT ryannagy.com. Or - if privacy is a concern for you - you can send me attachments securly and privately through this third-party service: https://anonymousemail.me/
cheers!
I hope you are doing well out there.
Ryan
