Want to buy or sell something? Check the classifieds
  • The Fedora Lounge is supported in part by commission earning affiliate links sitewide. Please support us by using them. You may learn more here.

DEATHS ; Notable Passings; The Thread to Pay Last Respects

LizzieMaine

Bartender
Messages
33,766
Location
Where The Tourists Meet The Sea
About twenty years ago he performed at our local high school -- just him and his banjo, no entourage, no show-biz pretentiousness -- and I was astounded that someone of his stature would come to a little town like this and play a show in a little school auditorium for $8 a seat. One of the most inspiring performances I've ever heard.
 

Doctor Strange

I'll Lock Up
Messages
5,252
Location
Hudson Valley, NY
I had a very similar experience when he played a barely advertized gig at New Rochelle High School back in the early 80s.

I also worked as a volunteer at one of the Clearwater's Great Hudson River Revival events at Croton Point Park in 1982, and I got a chance to hang around at breakfast with Pete... I have met a few famous people in my time, but I never encountered anyone who had such high-voltage charisma just sitting with a plate of pancakes. He radiated a remarkable aura!

About seven or eight years ago, my teenage daughter spent an afternoon at one of Pete's regular weekend honk-for-peace protest events in Wappingers Falls, just her and Pete and a couple of friends. Pete beguiled her: they shared snacks and sang Beatles songs - she came back with her mind totally blown. As you'd expect.

The man was a (inter)national treasure, an astounding force for good. As Bruce Springsteen memorably said onstage at Pete's 90th birthday concert at Madison Square Garden:

"Pete is like your grandpa... If your grandpa could kick your ass!"

Highly recommended: Pete Seeger: The Power of Song, a documentary from 2007 that ran on PBS American Masters after an art-house theatrical run (where I first saw it).
 

MrBern

I'll Lock Up
Messages
4,469
Location
DeleteStreet, REDACTCity, LockedState
A truly great American artist. Did a lot for our culture , dedicated politically activist & made a lot of kids laugh & sing...

[video=youtube;a5BJ9sbPvZ0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5BJ9sbPvZ0 [/video]

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/29/arts/music/pete-seeger-songwriter-and-champion-of-folk-music-dies-at-94.html?hp

the funny thing was i had jsut read about him making a surprise appearance at a Newspaper Union meeting. Got up on a chair to sing. He had wanted to beome a journalist, but singing paid better.
 
Last edited:

MrBern

I'll Lock Up
Messages
4,469
Location
DeleteStreet, REDACTCity, LockedState
Pete speaking to the Newspaper Guild
[video=vimeo;79404697]http://vimeo.com/79404697[/video]
http://www.buffaloguild.org/2013/11/22/buffalo-hosts-newspaper-guild-event-legendary-folk-singer-pete-seeger-makes-a-surprise-visit/
DCAR5678.jpg
 

Ernest P Shackleton

One Too Many
Messages
1,248
Location
Midwest
Losing Seeger is a great loss. I'm not much of a fan of his voice, but that don't matter none. Had a great heart that was reliable and sharp. True consciousness in a contemporary world that lacks just that.
 

Feraud

Bartender
Messages
17,190
Location
Hardlucksville, NY
Very shocked to hear of the passing of Philip S. Hoffman. It was a year or so back we heard Hoffman had a relapse. I feared something like this would happen. What a loss.
 

scotrace

Head Bartender
Staff member
Messages
14,392
Location
Small Town Ohio, USA
i'd never read anything about Hoffman's substance abuse problems. i only knew of him as a talented actor, so i'm shocked to hear of this.

I am also shocked and didn't know of his addiction. This is an actor I consciously looked forward to seeing in his 70's. But he leaves behind an extraordinary body of work.
 

LizzieMaine

Bartender
Messages
33,766
Location
Where The Tourists Meet The Sea
Baseball Hall of Famer Ralph Kiner has died at the age of 91. One of the most dominating power hitters in the National League in the years immediately after the War, Kiner was pretty much the only player worth watching in the dismal Pittsburgh Pirate lineups of that period. After his retirement he began an even more successful career as a broadcaster, as a member of the New York Mets broadcast team since the team's formation in 1962. His malapropisms remain legendary, but he eventually matured into a smooth, insightful commentator.

"And we'll be right back, after this word from Manufacturer's Hangover..."

628x471.jpg
 

Attachments

  • 628x471.jpg
    628x471.jpg
    33 KB · Views: 671

Tomasso

Incurably Addicted
Messages
13,719
Location
USA
During salary negotiations with the Pirates one year, general manager Branch Rickey said to Kiner, "We finished last with you, we can finish last without you." Kinda hard to argue with that.....
 

Gregg Axley

I'll Lock Up
Messages
5,125
Location
Tennessee
Shirley Temple age 85. RIP

My wife told me about it this morning.
So sad to see, but we can't last forever.
She was one of the rare child stars that actually transitioned into a normal life (as far as I know).
By that I mean, she didn't end up like so many of them, unemployed and broke.
In fact, as many here probably know, she was a Diplomat for the US, and an Ambassador to the Czech Republic.
In an article I read this morning, I thought this quote was pretty funny.
[QUOTEShe stopped believing in Santa Claus at age 6, she once said, when "Mother took me to see him in a department store and he asked for my autograph."][/QUOTE]
 
Last edited:

Forum statistics

Threads
109,306
Messages
3,078,474
Members
54,244
Latest member
seeldoger47
Top