5 minutes with ... Morty and Iris Manus.

Morty and Iris Manus are members of the MTNA FOUNDATION FUND'S Legacy Society. Morty is president of Alfred Publishing Co., Inc., the world's largest educational music publisher, A versatile musician, he is author and editor of numerous Alfred publications. Iris has worked for Alfred since the 1960s and is now executive producer,

Could you give us a brief synopsis of Alfred's history? What was the very first thing published?

Alfred began in 1924 and was bought by my father Sam in 1928. He published accordion music and French instrumental solos. When I began in 1950, there were four people in the company, sales were $17,000 a year, and I was making $20 a week. The first book I ever published was Melodic Adventures in Bassland for the accordion. I was afraid to release it because I wasn't sure how good it was--but then a teacher came to the office, looked at it and ordered 20 copies. I was thrilled and that sale suggested to me that I could become an editor and a writer.

How did the recent acquisition of Warner Bros. publications come about? (Is it true that Bugs Bunny tried to stonewall the deal?)

Actually, it was Porky Pig. Time/Warner company sold off the Warner Music Group (WMG) (records, music publishing and music print) to Edgar Bronfman, Jr. He was not interested in the print company and solicited bids for it. We still, however, have a close connection with WMG.

Morty, did you envision the company growing this much?

No. When you start at $17,000 a year, it's more a question of surviving. Publishing of any kind is a very hard business. It's slow growing and financially draining. If it wasn't for Iris, I would have failed a long time ago. She just wouldn't let me quit when I wanted to give up. She is very courageous. I never thought we would reach sales of $30 million a year. Now with Warner, you add another $40 to $50 million. It's all so unbelievable. When we first reached $100,000 in sales, my parents couldn't quite believe it. I can't begin to imagine what they would think now.

You must be (as I like to say) "pickled tink" that your sons are actively involved. Were they ever tempted to go in different directions?

They actually did go in different directions for a while. I first asked Ron, who was working in a recording studio, to join us. He is a superb guitarist, pop musician and writer. Steve had his own computer programming company and was doing very well. He is a computer genius and a brilliant financial man. It was Steve who negotiated the deal with Warner but without Ron's knowledge of the pop market, he never would have pursued Warner. The two of them have bought Alfred from us and so Ron and Steve are now the owners of the company. We each are good at and enjoy different parts of the business, so it makes for a happy and productive mix.

Morty, you have terrific "Teach Yourself to Play ..." books. (Now we know how George Harrison got interested in ukulele!) Whose brainchild were they?

The author who I worked with the most over a period of 40 years was Willard Palmer, We were on the phone almost daily. It began from an idea Willard suggested to me, which probably came from a music dealer while he was doing a workshop. Teach Yourself to Play the Piano was very successful--so much so that Ron suggested we also add a Teach Yourself Guitar book. That was greeted equally as well and so we just kept adding to the series, widening the scope of subject matter to cover almost anything having to do with the music business.

Did you know your books are cited on a medical textbook web site? (I can see the headline: "DOCTORS COMMIT MUSICAL 'MAL'-PRACTICE.")

I did not know that. I should tell my doctor about this and suggest the next time a patient has the flu, he could say, "Play two pages from this and call me in the morning."

How did you and Iris meet each other? Was it love at first sightreading?

I was going to the College of the City of New York (CCNY) and on occasional Saturdays I would come to Alfred to help out. As Iris's mother was our bookkeeper and worked Saturdays, Iris would also come in occasionally to do some part-time work. No, it wasn't love at first sight, though it should have been. I would confide to Iris about the trouble I was having with women I was dating. She gave me advice, all of which turned out to be bad! I've often wondered if she deliberately....

Iris, is there music in your background also? (As the piano mover quipped, "Of course I love piano--I picked it up as a child!")

Yes, a little. I was studying from a piano method as a child but soon stopped taking lessons. I've always loved music, especially singing and dancing. When Mort began working on Alfred's Basic Piano Library, he used me to test some of the material. He would ask me to comment on whether the explanations were clear, whether the music was playable, but especially if the music was enjoyable. After a while I began playing fairly well. You ought to hear my version of Fur Elise! To this day, I am still pleased when Mort asks for my opinion on various books on which he is working.

What motivated you to donate so generously to MTNA?

The MTNA is a first-class organization and is largely responsible for raising the teaching skills of many piano teachers through their conferences. Having personally benefited from their activities, it just seems like the right thing to do. No matter how much Iris and I give, it never feels like enough.

Is there a burning issue on which you'd give us your two-cents worth? (Solo vs. collaborative pianism? German vs. light beer?)

I am bothered by how few children and adults play a musical instrument out of our total population. There is some research that indicates young students will probably do better in school when taking music lessons. For adults, the benefits include a lowered blood pressure, increased feelings of well being and self-esteem, and an alert mind. So beyond the sheer pleasure of performing music, there is much to be gained. Our lawyer once said to me, "Your industry is so small, it flies under the radar net--nobody knows it exists." That is a tragedy, I often wonder how we can change all this but how to do it remains a dilemma.

Arthur Houle is founder and director of the International Festival for Creative Pianists (www.pianofestival.org). Houle has taught at the New England and Boston Conservatories, the Universities of Iowa, North Dakota and Texas-Austin and, most recently, at Albertson College.