The Mingus Method

Folks who know me know that I frequently cite Charles Mingus as an influence. Of course my own playing and composition can't touch his. But I've also been interested in some of the non-music-related aspects of his life.

One very interesting thing Mingus did was to develop the "Mingus Method" for toilet training a cat. Mind you, this is not a method for teaching the cat to use the litter box. With this method, you teach the cat to use the real, porcelain, human potty!

Here's the page on Sue Mingus' website:

http://www.mingusmingusmingus.com/main/words5.htm

So, this morning I ran across a website called "CitiKitty" that seems to have ripped off this idea entirely, and is selling a kitty toilet training kit for $29.

Judge for yourself:

http://www.citikitty.com/

So, I decided to write to Sue Mingus' website and tell her people about it. Here's what I wrote:

From what I can tell, this outfit has ripped off Charles' "Mingus Method" for toilet training a cat:

http://www.citikitty.com/index.htm

I hope Sue is getting royalties, or at least some props as to who really came up with the method.

Steve Pinkston
Bassist
Molalla, OR

And -- surprise, surprise -- Sue herself wrote back:

Have sent your letter on to my son, the lawyer! I suspect that it is one more great idea down the financial tubes. But thanks for the info....... Sue Mingus

To me, this is just about like getting a personal postcard from the Queen. Probably inconsequential, but it made my day.