In the letters from Schreiber's file, there is one from somebody who visited Joe Mauk in Philippines, not that long ago. About Mauk it says: "He learned from a man named Jim Steed who learned it from Jim Schreiber. He told me that Jim called him his top spinning grandson."
Received the following FB message from Joe Mauk not that long ago:
Top Spinning Background Thought I would post this answer to a friend's question since others often ask how I got into tops.
I learned to spin tops from Jim Steed, of Grand Rapids, MI, (a student of Jim Schreiber) when he was doing shows at Word of Life camps in Schroon Lake NY in 1973 where I was on staff. I met with Jim Schreiber 3 times before he went to glory, the first two while his Jemima was still alive. The last I think was 1990, he was 85 then. My diabolo from China that makes sound was a gift from him at that time. He said it was broken but maybe I could fix it. Actually it was pretty much fine but needed steady hands to get started, which he didn't have at that age. But I wrote and told him I fixed it and it has been part of my show ever since.
I began collecting tops in 1973 and arrived in Australia to start a short-term Bible school for WOL in 1975. A few months into that year I was asked to fill in for a youth camp speaker on short notice and tried putting a few tops together for a show. Was very well received, started getting invitations to do the show and people started giving me tops and making them for me. Had two speaking tours of New Zealand in 1977 and 1978 and a retired farmer named Frank Coe made me my larger tops at those times. By Dec. 1978 when I left Australia the show had developed into basically what it still is now. Some tops have gone and others been added but the flow of the show has not changed much.
The DVD was filmed in 2001 at our previous center on Lake Caliraya, Laguna, Philippines. We left that place for our present center in 2003. The DVD updates the contact information although the location is not our present place, which can be found at
www.re-creationcenter.comWe came to the Philippines in 1980 to start another short-term Bible school for WOL, I became WOL Philippines field director in 1986. I left WOL to join the company that developed the Caliraya center in 1993. Our present site is actually the former WOL camp and Bible school which we took over in 2003 after their lease expired (they bought their own property elsewhere) so we are back where we began in the Philippines.
While a Bible teacher and administrator for WOL I would do tops as a "sideline" ministry maybe 40 or more times a year. When I got into managing the Caliraya center they shot up to 250-300 shows a year, with most being 308 shows in 1998. (My goal for 1999 was to NOT do 300 shows, we got it back down to 250-280) Here at the Rizal center we are still topping 200 shows every year. Sometime this month I am on target to do my 4,000th top show since arriving in the Philippines January 1980. So for the last 17 of my 30 years in the Philippines, my main ministry has been tops evangelism (as far as speaking opportunities go, there are a lot of other things I am doing!).
