Woody Guthrie, born 100 years ago today, should be every Realtors favorite composer and musician.
He wrote the famous song, “This Land is Your Land”….
But, Woody Guthrie had a short life and a troubled one at that. He had Huntington’s disease which is a genetic progressive neurological disorder and yet he married three times and had eight children.
But, well before that he traveled the country with migrant workers from Oklahoma to California. A lot of his experiences with the Okies during the Dust Bowl went into his music and experience. He has provided inspiration to many, many artists including, of course, Bob Dylan, a native Minnesotan, who visited him frequently in Brooklyn when he was hospitalized and would bring him cigarettes and play his songs for him. I am pretty sure that Bob and Arlo, his son (same birthday as mine!) and his other surviving daughter Nora who makes sure that his legacy is treasured and guarded are having some celebrations of their own today.
Other artists that credit him with influencing their work are Billy Bragg/Wilco with their Mermaid Avenue recordings, and, I hear, but have not listened to the Moses Asch recordings which are said to be some of the best, Pete Seeger, and a host of others..
Guthrie,who died at age 55, should be celebrated because he contributed to American and world life in so many ways. Because of his degenerative Huntington’s disease, his second wife, Marjorie, after his death, helped found the Committeet to Combat Huntington's Disease, which became the Huntington's Disease Society of America. None of Guthrie's three remaining children with Marjorie has developed symptoms of Huntington's which is very fortunate. All of his other children have died.
But celebrate this man of talent today and into the future. His songs have been sung from the Kennedy Center to around campfires and beyond for years. I hope that you remember him fondly today.
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