People we wish we'd known before they died

[shewhomust]

Today's Guardian carries an obituary for Bill Carson, whom it describes as "the test pilot of the Stratocaster". It was Carson who told Fender that holding the oblong Telecaster against his ribcage for hours every night left him with bruises; he suggested that the guitar should be shaped to fit the guitarist's body. Fender was sufficiently taken with this revolutionary idea to develop the cutaway Stratocaster.

"Carson was a keen amateur pilot and lover of gardening who, focusing on the target of the world's largest watermelon, in 1990 cultivated a 262lb melon that was listed in the Guinness Book of Records."

ETA: There's more on Fender's web site, including a picture of the watermelon.