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.
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."
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}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..."