by Frederick D. Fairchild

John Noonan’s career began with silent movies and expanded to include all areas of classical and popular percussion. His educational activities included private teaching, serving as Educational Director for Ludwig & Ludwig and Percussion Instructor at Illinois Wesleyan University, authoring numerous magazine articles, and writing educational booklets including Notes on Band and Orchestra Cymbals and All About Drum Heads. He operated a music shop in Bloomington, Illinois from 1943 to 1961 and during the 1970s spent many hours at Jeff’s Drum Shop in Bloomington where countless professionals and students would come to seek advice or merely listen to his fascinating stories about his long career in percussion.