ERR COVER

At the VNSA book sale this year I found this...

...1968 paperback edition of William Styron's second novel, The Long March, from 1952. It's a good quick read, tense and vividly drawn. But I especially love how the back cover...

...tries to link the story, about a grueling forced march of Marine reservists and the psychological battle it provokes between two officers, to the allegorical anti-war protest song "Waist Deep in the Big Muddy," then topical because it had been censored by CBS from The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour in 1967. The cover misattributes the song to Woody Guthrie; it was of course by Pete Seeger. CBS eventually relented and Seeger did the song on the show in early 1968.

Around the same time, my peacenik sister used to sing me that song when I was little; I can still sing it word for word.

WILD ABOUT HARRY

Opening today at Harkins Shea:

Harry Chapin: When in Doubt, Do Something--Sometime in the late '70s, I saw Harry and Tom Chapin perform at the Warner Theatre in Erie, Pa, where I was working as an usher, and got to meet them after the show. I think I still have the souvenir program they autographed somewhere. What I remember most distinctly is that they both gave the two best handshakes I think I've ever received, perfectly firm but not viselike. I also remember it was one of the best concerts I've ever seen; it's stuck in my head far more vividly than many shows I saw decades later.

All this came back to me watching this documentary chronicle of Harry Chapin's hectic, too-short life. Directed by Rick Korn, it's an entirely straightforward account, covering his folkie youth with his brothers, his rise as a purveyor of "story songs," his turn into relentless activism against world hunger, the shock of his untimely death.

There are many tearjerking moments; also a funny centerpiece montage demonstrating the cultural footprint of his signature song "Cat's in the Cradle." The story is inspirational, and as with the Linda Ronstadt documentary, it's told against the background of that peerlessly dramatic and beautiful voice.

PETER THE GREAT

RIP to the wonderful Pete Seeger, passed on at 94.

One of my earliest memories was being in the back seat of a car in Newport, RI, and seeing a smiling guy get out of a car up ahead of us, and a wave to everyone, and being told that this was Pete Seeger. My parents were taking my folkie sister to the Folk Festival in Newport, and I was along for the ride. I also remember being taken to a Hubert Humphrey rally, so one or the other was the first famous person I can remember seeing. I’m told I also saw Bob Hope once when I was very small, but I have no memory of it. Maybe only the lefties stick in my mind.

On a more personal note, RIP also to bluegrass musician Kip Martin, my one-time step-nephew (though he was older than me) and unofficial extra older brother, passed on way too young yesterday.

Happy New Year tomorrow everybody! Chinese New Year, that is.

Farewell to the Year of the Snake, welcome to the Year of the Horse.

In honor of that noble beast, and also of The Kid, whose zodiacal sign is the Horse and who favors the Monster High series…

Monster-of-the-Week: …let’s give the nod to a new character from Monster High—the Nightmare Horse belonging to Headless Headmistress Bloodgood (“daughter of the Headless Horseman!”).