Remembering Harry Chapin and his lasting legacy.

1. The Art & Legacy Of Harry Chapin
It is one of those nights from my childhood that I’ll
never forget. Thursday, July 16, 1981. I was ten
years old, enjoying the summer at a Long Island day
camp. That evening, the campers were taken on a
late-night trip to see a musical production of Damn
Yankees at the Jones Beach amphitheater. The big
attraction: Joe Namath, the famed NY Jets
Quarterback starring as Joe Hardy, the lead
character.

2. It was approaching
10pm when the buses pulled into the camp parking
lot. Some 300 kids stepped off into the dark and
began looking for their ride home. I was seeking a
red four-door Pontiac Bonneville, the one my Dad
proudly drove in those days. The night was humid.
The air-conditioning in my Dad’s car wascranked
up to full blast. But when I ducked inside the back
seat, I found my father in a somber mood.
“Dad, you gotta hear about the show. Joe
Namath; he was so funny. He couldn’t sing. We were
all laughing.”
My father – usually the life of every party – sat
quietly behind the wheel. He looked up to
acknowledge me in the rearview mirror and forced a
smile. “Glad you had fun. It’s been a sad night.
Harry Chapin died. He was driving to do a concert.
Got killed in a car crash on the LIE.”

3. Harry Chapin: One of
the regular musical voices I would hear on my Dad’s
car stereo from his vast collection of 8-track
tapes. Taxi.Flowers Are Red. And the
unforgettable, Cats In The Cradle. Not the rangiest
singer. But undeniably one of the great singer-
songwriters there ever was. Also, one of music’s true
humanitarians. The inspiration behind one of NY
radio’s great annual traditions.
In my novel, Poet Of The Wrong Generation, the
protagonist, Johnny Elias, leverages airplay on a NY
radio station by performing on a radio-thon benefit.
While the station in my story is fictional, the cause
and the participating organization is real: World
Hunger Year (now re-named WHYHunger). A
foundation established by Harry Chapin and radio
personality, Bill Ayers in 1975.
I have solid memories from my teenage years of
the many radio-thons hosted on the old WNEW-FM

4. around Thanksgiving time each year. So many rock
stars donated items for auction to help combat
world hunger. Others would pop by the studio,
perform songs and chat with the DJs. These were the
best broadcasts presented all year.
Significant money was raised for such a basic cause.
But it always came back to the man that started it
all.
Ask any songwriter to compile a list of the
greatest songs ever written. Cats In The Cradle is
likely to appear on 90% of the lists. Harry Chapin’s
lyrical story about the cycle of neglected father and
son relationships is perhaps the pinnacle of the folk-
rock genre. Ironically, the poignant lyrics to the
song, which hit # 1 on the charts in 1974, were not
penned by the great songwriter, but by his wife,
Sandra. She’d written them in a poem about the
awkward relationship between her ex-husband and
his father. Nonetheless, credit Harry for adapting
the poem as a song, and for giving it the melody,
guitar playing and the voice.

5. Chapin was first and
foremost a storyteller. His first hit, Taxi, tells the
tale of a pair of ex-lovers who meet up years later
by chance. Harry is the taxi-driver and “Sue” has
become a Hollywood actress, successful, but
unhappy. Another classic, WOLD, tells the story of
an aging DJ, struggling to maintain relevance as he
moves on to yet another city. The characters always
so fully developed and relatable.
Chart success did not come regularly for Chapin.
Aside fromCats In The Cradle, none of his singles
cracked the top ten. But the success of that one
chart-topper made Chapin an instant millionaire,
and a popular concert attraction. Still, the singer
refused to stand pat and enjoy his riches. He joined
the boards of local institutions like Hofstra
University and the Long Island Philharmonic. He also
staged numerous benefit concerts for causes brought
to his attention. Even his regular concert

6. performances featured merchandise for sale to
benefit various charities.
Harry Chapin’s tragic death on the Long Island
Expressway in the summer of 1981 did not put an
end to his philanthropic endeavors. WHYHunger
continues to host its annual radio-thon in NY each
November. This award-winning nonprofit
organization now provides assistance to combat
poverty and hunger in some 8,000 communities
worldwide. A beautiful legacy for a remarkably
talented troubadour cut down in the prime of his
life.
Poet Of The Wrong Generation by Lonnie Ostrow is
now available in paperback and eBook format on
Amazon.