without choking up because Iwould
thinkofmy relationshipwithmydad,
and Iwould think about his relation-
shipwithhisdad.Hisdad,Kenneth, a
Holocaust survivor, died inJune 1981.
Mydadwas31atthetime.HarryChapin
died ina tragiccaraccident the follow-
ingmonth.Hewas38yearsold. I’m38
yearsold.
Irememberhearing“Cat’sintheCra-
dle”comingfrommydad’srecordplayer
andtapedecka lotafterJune1981.
It ismy hopewith this column to
bring those of you old enough to re-
member Harry Chapin back to the
1970s and thegoldenageof folk-rock
storytelling.Itisalsomyhopetogetyou
sonsanddaughtersouttheretolistento
whatAmericasounded likewhenyour
parentswereyourage.Butwhat’smore,
Iwanttomakesurethataswenearthe
34thanniversaryofthattragicJulyday
on theLong IslandExpressway,Harry
isnot forgottenand thathisstoriesare
still told.Toputemphasisbehind that
point, I reachedout toSandyChapin,
Harry’swidow.
Sandy,now80, answered thephone
with somuch energy andwith such
delight. Shewasecstatic that someone
frommygenerationwouldwanttolead
achargetoremindtheworldaboutwhat
herhusbandwasable toaccomplishas
amusicianandahumanitarianby the
timeofhisdeathat38 (heco-founded
theWhyHungerorganizationin1975to
combatpoverty). “Harrywas thesame
way,” she said of her late husband’s
can-dospirit.“Heusedtosay, ‘When in
doubt,do it.’He’dbewatchingahockey
game onTV, listening to abasketball
gameonatransistorradio,talkingtothe
kidsandwritingasong, all at thesame
time.Andhealwayshad something to
sayabouteverything.”
Shespeaks in thesamemanner that
hesang.Therearenoone-ortwo-word
answers. There are no one- or two-
sentenceanswerseither.Herresponses
to thequestionswerewell thoughtout,
and theywere fashioned into a story,
too long toprint in itsentirety, yet too
consequential toglossover.Thisquote,
aboutwhetherHarry’smusic isstill rel-
evant, isprettyweighty.
“Istillgetlettersfrompeoplewhotell
mehowHarry’smusic changed their
lives, andhowat lowmoments, they’d
sitand listentoonesongafteranother,”
she says. “Harry’spublicpersonawas
very, veryupbeat.Hehadphrases like
onwardsandupwards
and
noproblem
.
Hekepthimself frombeingdown.He’s
eitheruporhe’sout,meaninghe’seither
happyorhe’sasleep.
“Hiswayofdealingwiththelittlehurts
in lifewas toput them inhissongs. ‘Mr.
Tanner,’ for instance, is about thebad
reviewshe received.He’sworkingout
his feelingsabout gettingbad reviews
andhebased itona real storyabout a
man fromDaytonwhogotbadreviews
in
TheNewYorkTimes
.But the feeling
inthesongcomesfromhisownfeelings.
It’shardtofindasongthatwasn’tbased
onapersonalemotionalexperience, or
onaparticularpersonorplace.”
And thereare timesyouchangeyour
stride; thereare times you can’t decide.
Stillyougoon.
Takeamoment,won’t you, to reac-
quaintyourselfwithHarryChapin’smu-
sical story. Ifyou’veneverheardofhim
before, trygoingaboutyourdailygrind
with him playing in the background.
He’llhelpyoudealwith the littlehurts
in life, liketheonewithmyMaddy.
And I can see it clear out to the end,
and I’ll whisper to her now again, be-
cause she sharedmy life. Formore than
all theghosts of glory, shemakesup the
story:She’s theonlystory, ofmy life.
AdamPitluk
Editor
FollowAdamonTwitter
@adampitluk
Tune toChannel 7onyour in-
flight radiostations to listen to
our “Spotlight:HarryChapin,”
narratedbyChapin’sdrummer,
HowardFields.
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