On October 3, 1967, Woody Guthrie died from Huntington's Chorea
at Creedmoor State Hospital in Queens, New York.

Pete Seeger with a final remembrance of Woody:

About eight months before he died in 1967, I visited him once more, this time with Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee. Woody was in a wheelchair. He couldn't walk anymore, so the hospital attendant wheeled him out onto a porch where it was warm. Sonny, Brownie and I played some music for Woody. We did "Rock Island Line", with Sonny blowing his harp, sending beautiful notes into the air. Woody must have liked what he heard because you could see how much he wanted to be part of our little group. He tried to get his arms going, but they were just flailing around like a windmill. It got to the point where it looked as though he might hurt himself, so the attendant said, "You better quit playing
that loud tune" and we played some quiet blues instead.

If I ever die, don't bury me
On Wall Street under a cement tree
Where folks can look at a marble slab
And all of this trash and obstructory,
But if I die and when I do,
Just cart me out where the sky is blue,
And have some carrier carve this piece:
Woody knows just where he is.

God Bless you Woody! You raised a fine son & we remember you on this day... This Land Is Your Land...

R.I.P. W.W.G.

Forever in my heart, and always on my mind. Rest in PEACE, Woody. Thank you for everything.

In the immortal words of Bob Dylan...

"Hey, Woody Guthrie, but I know that you know
All the things that I'm a-sayin' an' a-many times more.
I'm a-singin' you the song, but I can't sing enough,
'Cause there's not many men that done the things that you've done."

As the sun was shining
And I was strolling
And the wheat fields waving
And the dust clouds rolling
As the fog was lifting
A voice was singing (IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN WOODY!)
This land was made for you and me!

PP&M

Woody is in Z

"I hate a song that makes you think that you are not any good. I hate a song that makes you think that you are just born to lose. Bound to lose. No good to nobody. No good for nothing. Because you are too old or too young or too fat or too slim or too ugly or too this or too that. Songs that run you down or poke fun at you on account of your bad luck or hard travelling.

I am out to fight those songs to my very last breath of air and my last drop of blood. I am out to sing songs that will prove to you that this is your world and that if it has hit you pretty hard and knocked you for a dozen loops, no matter what color, what size you are, how you are built, I am out to sing the songs that make you take pride in yourself and in your work. And the songs that I sing are made up for the most part by all sorts of folks just about like you.

I could hire out to the other side, the big money side, and get several dollars every week just to quit singing my own kind of songs and to sing the kind that knock you down still farther and the ones that poke fun at you even more and the ones that make you think that you've not got any sense at all. But I decided a long time ago that I'd starve to death before I'd sing any such songs as that. The radio waves and your movies and your jukeboxes and your songbooks are already loaded down and running over with such no good songs as that anyhow."
-Woody Guthrie

In grateful remembrance of Woody Guthrie on this day, October 3, 2002.
Ways you can help and support the Woody Guthrie Foundation.

Some Woody Guthrie-related events in 2003:

"Guthrie Tribute to Highlight Folk Conference"
http://www.cmt.com/news/display/1457767.jhtml

"Woody Guthrie Tribute Tour:
http://www.valdenn.com/woodyguthrietribute/

Peace & God Bless Woody. You are missed... <img src="http://www.arlo.net/ubb/smilies/peace.gif" width=16 height=16>

I wonder who had the stranger look on their face this past week when they met in heaven, Woody or Todd? I'm betting it was a toss up.
R.I.P. me boys.

"you can either go to the church of your choice, or you can go to Brooklyn State Hospital. You'll find God in the church of your choice. You'll find Woody Guthrie in Brooklyn State Hospital.

And though it's only my opinion...I may be right or wrong...you'll find them both in the Grand Canyon at sundown"--Bob Dylan

I think Bob's quote just about says it all. Woody may not be here in physical form, but his spirit will always be with us. Wherever there are people who love the land, wherever people fight for peace and justice, there you will find the spirit of Woody Guthrie.