Painting of Paul Roe Goodman (early 1920's)

Paul Roe Goodman was born on August 20, 1901 in Stafford County, Kansas, and died at his home in Jacksonville, Florida on March 20, 1996.

As a boy on the Goodman farm in Kansas (which had been homesteaded in the 1880's) he always hurried to finish his chores so that he could devote many hours to practicing the piano. He held degrees from Bethany College and Ottawa University in Kansas and diplomas from the Mannes and Juilliard Schools of Music in New York City, and was a fellow of the American Guild of Organists.

Paul Goodman was on the music faculties of Central Oklahoma State University (at that time Central State College) and Florida Southern College. He taught piano privately in Chicago, Pasadena (CA), Pratt (KS), Lakeland (FL), Memphis (TN), and Jacksonville (FL). For more than fifty years he was also a church organist. He performed as a pianist and organist in many states and gave master classes in person and by tape to piano teachers. His piano teaching methods were explained in his book A Manual for Piano Teachers and Students. He was an adjudicator for the National Guild of Piano Teachers for forty years, and founded the Greater Memphis Music Teachers Association in the 1970's.

After moving to Jacksonville in 1988, he taught the piano and gave school concerts until the last few months of his life.

Paul Roe Goodman in recital at National Conservatory of Music, Havana (1952)

Paul Goodman's lifelong devotion to music and its spiritual qualities was an inspiration to generations of pupils, many of them eventual piano teachers. His encouragement to his students extended beyond piano lessons as he corresponded with them through the years.