evan@petfe.UUCP (Evan Marcus) (05/12/85)
In article <852@sdcsvax.UUCP>, Dan Rose writes: > In article <433@talcott.UUCP> jak@talcott.UUCP (Joe Konstan) writes: > > > >if anybody happens to know where to reach [Harry] Chapin (if he's > >still alive--I really don't know), I'd be happy to send them along > >to him, or the record company as well, with full attributions. > > If I remember correctly, Harry Chapin died in a terrible car crash > in the late 1970's or early 1980's. Unfortunately, he was drunk at > the time and apparently driving completely out of control. This may > not have cast a bad light on his music, but it certainly didn't help > his fans' perception of him. I don't remember if anyone else was > involved in the accident. > Quite right--Harry did die in the crash. It was 1981 as I recall. The story as I understood it was that although he was a notoriously bad driver, this accident was NOT his fault. An 18-wheeler lost control and skidded into his small, old car, killing him, although I have also heard that he may have suffered a heart attack during the accident which killed him. He was not, as I recall, drunk, or in any way at fault in this case. A small digression: Harry was a true champion of the hungry. (He was the founder of World Hunger Year -- Every Year is World Hunger Year.) Whenever I hear We Are the World (I STILL like that song!), I think of him smiling down on us. It took a long time, but he has gotten what he worked for for years and years. --Evan Marcus -- {ucbvax|decvax}!vax135!petsd!pedsgd!pedsga!evan ...!petfe!evan There are two kinds of people in the world, those who divide people into two kinds, and those who don't.
earl@BRL-VAT.ARPA (VLD/ATB) (05/14/85)
I thought he died in a motorcycle crash.
cmoore@BRL.ARPA (VLD/VMB) (05/14/85)
I recall it was a CAR crash.
lip@gcc-bill.ARPA (Sethmodius Lipkin) (05/14/85)
>> If I remember correctly, Harry Chapin died in a terrible car crash >> in the late 1970's or early 1980's. Unfortunately, he was drunk at >> the time and apparently driving completely out of control. >> >Quite right--Harry did die in the crash. It was 1981 as I recall. >The story as I understood it was that although he was a notoriously >bad driver, this accident was NOT his fault. An 18-wheeler lost control >and skidded into his small, old car, killing him, although I have >also heard that he may have suffered a heart attack during the accident >which killed him. He was not, as I recall, drunk, or in any way at fault >in this case. Yes and no. He WAS a notoriously bad driver, having previously lost his license for speeding (or some other moving violations). However, in this case, his car (VW Rabbit) had mechanical problems, causing him to slow from expressway (L.I. Expressway) speed down to something like 20 mph. He was trying to get over to the shoulder, moving from left to right, when he was hit by a truck that had been in the right lane. So yes, he was a bad driver, but no, the truck did not lose control, and no, he was not drunk. Seth Lipkin General Computer Company harvard!gcc-bill!lip "Watertown, New York is an exciting place. I spent a week there one afternoon."
brown@nicmad.UUCP (05/15/85)
> I recall it was a CAR crash. It was a CAR crash. It was a truck that got him. -- |------------| | |-------| o| JVC HRD725U Mr. Video | | | o| |--------------| | | | | | |----| o o o | | |-------| O| |--------------| |------------| VHS Hi-Fi (the only way to go) (!ihnp4!uwvax!astroatc!nicmad!brown)
Sy.SLogin@CU20B.ARPA (Thomas De Bellis) (05/20/85)
Whatever Harry Chapin was, he certainly was not what I'd call a good driver. I lived near where he did in Huntington, Long Island and the opinion of most people at my high school who knew about his driving was that the guy was a maniac on wheels. To relate a story: A friend of mine went riding his ten speed to go visit another friend who happened to live very close to the Chapin's and nearly got run over as Harry came flying out in his four wheel drive. The house has a rather long driveway and Harry was pretty predictable about zooming out of there. This all happened back in 1975 (or around there, it's been awhile...) so perhaps his driving habits changed; I would tend to doubt this based on other things I had heard about him. It's difficult to argue these `what-if' points, however: if an 18-wheeler goes out of control and you're nearby, the chances are that you are going to cash in your chips no matter who is at fault, but one wonders whether he would have been in that infortunate situation had he not been such a chronic speedster. -- Tom De Bellis -------
rjb@akgua.UUCP (R.J. Brown [Bob]) (05/20/85)
Harry also wrote much of the "Cotton Patch Gospel" musical
before he died. Thanks Harry.
Bob Brown {...ihnp4!akgua!rjb}ee171ael@sdcc3.UUCP (GEOFFREY KIM) (05/21/85)
I haven't listened to music for a while, and when I finally turned on the radio, I heard the most awful song in the whole universe. It went something like this. "We are the world, we are the children. We are the ones who make better hay for those unfortunates" (or something like that). And to top it all off, there were a variety of singers contributing to a sense of mismatch and incoherency to the song. I like the fact that it is making money for starving people in ethiopia, but did they have to make the song so cornballish. I mean, come on. Actually, the people who sing it are probably just doing it because they want to be more popular, or at least to be invited to Michael Jackson's society ball for upcoming androgenists. Heck, you can't tell the gender of some of the music stars today. Here is how the lyrics should have been: "We are the stars You are the public. We are the ones who fake and take Your hard earned money!!! We are the stars You are the masses. We make this bad song which you will buy 'cuz you're all asses" (Or something like that) Send flames. I love 'em. Larry G. Kimanski
quint@topaz.ARPA (Amqueue) (05/24/85)
Im not up on the vagaries of the various netnews programs, so I
cant include the message I am replying to. The person was talking about
Chapin's death and the circumstances surrounding it.
Living in the NY Metro area, we got a lot of press reports on the
accident. Apparently, harry was driving along at about 90mph, wihtout a
license, when he had a heart attack and lost control of the car. He had no
license cause it had been taken away for speeding. (stupid twit). In any
case, as he swerved across the highway, a truck hit the car. The name of
the truck driver was not released, because of fear for the man's life
(there are some rather militant chapin fans in this area...). It was
announced loudly and long that Harry was dead immediately, that the truck
driver had nothing to do with it and it wasnt his fault.
He was NOT drunk! He was NOT murdered!
defensively
/amqueueix191@sdcc6.UUCP (ix191) (05/30/85)
In article <271@petfe.UUCP> evan@petfe.UUCP (Evan Marcus) writes: > >In article <852@sdcsvax.UUCP>, Dan Rose writes: >> In article <433@talcott.UUCP> jak@talcott.UUCP (Joe Konstan) writes: >> > >> >if anybody happens to know where to reach [Harry] Chapin (if he's >> >still alive--I really don't know), I'd be happy to send them along >> >to him, or the record company as well, with full attributions. >> >> If I remember correctly, Harry Chapin died in a terrible car crash >> in the late 1970's or early 1980's. Unfortunately, he was drunk at >> the time and apparently driving completely out of control. This may >> not have cast a bad light on his music, but it certainly didn't help >> his fans' perception of him. I don't remember if anyone else was >> involved in the accident. >> >Quite right--Harry did die in the crash. It was 1981 as I recall. >The story as I understood it was that although he was a notoriously >bad driver, this accident was NOT his fault. An 18-wheeler lost control >and skidded into his small, old car, killing him, although I have >also heard that he may have suffered a heart attack during the accident >which killed him. He was not, as I recall, drunk, or in any way at fault >in this case. > >A small digression: Harry was a true champion of the hungry. (He was the >founder of World Hunger Year -- Every Year is World Hunger Year.) Whenever >I hear We Are the World (I STILL like that song!), I think of him smiling >down on us. It took a long time, but he has gotten what he worked for for >years and years. Harry would also donate much of his profits to chatrity, and would visit orphanages and perform for free. He was a great guy. I remember when I heard he died (I was out of the country at the time, and didn't hear till months later). It was 1980. -Debi Cohen "...I'm a butterfly in s spiders web caught within my dreams..."