The hall was in total darkness — except for a lone spotlight
focused tightly on one man, seated alone onstage with a guitar
in his hands.  On the program were dancer José Greco, actor José
Ferrer, the world's finest classical guitarist Andrés Segovia,
opera singer Roberta Peters, pianist Van Cliburn, and many other
distinguished performers.  But it was the emotional strains of
the solo guitarist that stirred the audience most deeply that
evening.  On the last note, he flipped the guitar up into the
air with his right hand, stood, and caught it in his left hand.
He brought the house down, basking in a standing ovation from an
audience that included President Jimmy Carter, Canadian Prime
Minister Pierre Trudeau and a capacity crowd at Carnegie Hall.
The performer was a self-taught guitarist from San Antonio,
Willie Champion, known throughout the world by his stage name,
El Curro.  San Antonio's gold-touch guitarist died of bone
cancer at age 79 on Aug. 18, leaving behind a 71-year legacy of
guitar playing and