Harry Chapin died July 16, 1981, 28 years ago yesterday, in a fiery car crash on the Long Island Expressway. The official cause of death was cardiac arrest, though it was unclear whether his heart failed him before or after the crash. Whichever happened first, it led to the other.
In life, Harry's heart along with his passion for living and giving, motivated him to do something to make a difference in his world. Harry earned a substantial amount of money over his career and gave much of it away, with an emphasis on causes related to battling hunger in America. It was estimated he donated a third of the proceeds from his paid concerts to charitable causes. The following two paragraphs are directly from Wikipedia.
One report quotes his widow saying soon after his death — "only with slight exaggeration" — that "Harry was supporting 17 relatives, 14 associations, seven foundations and 82 charities. Harry wasn't interested in saving money. He always said, 'Money is for people,' so he gave it away." Despite his success as a musician, he left little money and it was difficult to maintain the causes for which he raised more than $3 million in the last six years of his life. The Harry Chapin Foundation was the result.
Chapin was interred in the Huntington Rural Cemetery, Huntington, New York. His epitaph is taken from his song "I Wonder What Would Happen to this World." It is:
This week's first clip features a very fine solo acoustic performance by Bruce Springsteen at the Carnegie Hall Tribute show in December of 1987 honoring Harry Chapin's life, and includes a great little story about how Bruce met and got to know Harry.
Harry's big hit was 'Cats in the Cradle', a song based on a poem his wife Sandy wrote about her first husband's relationship with his father. The birth of his son Josh inspired Harry to turn Sandy's poem into a song, and it became his only #1 hit.
Here's Harry at his story-telling best.
Thanks Harry. Happy Friday.
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