Jonathan Turner's stories

Lee Stofer with two of his restored tubas in his instrument shop in Camanche. CREDIT JONATHAN TURNER

Stone’s Throw: Tubas made the old-fashioned way — by hand, on a farm, one at a time

On a remote farm in rural Camanche, Iowa, Lee Stofer, Jr. is part of a vanishing breed — an American tuba maker. The shop where he builds his instruments sits on land that formerly housed a pig barn. A 69-year-old…