Thursday July 14, 2006 will mark the 94th anniversary of the birth of Woody Guthrie. It is a date that I always remember, and not just because it comes two days after my own birthday.

On July12, as part of the superb American Masters series, PBS will premiere a new documentary by director Peter Frumpkin titled “Woody Guthrie: Ain’t Got No Home“. In recent years there have been a number of documentaries about Guthrie and various facets of his life, including a British-produced effort titled “This Machine Kills Fascists”. While it offered interesting clips, that documentary suffered by adding minutiae which appealed to Guthrie junkies that need to know everything, but it suffered from a lack of editing. Having two or three individuals describing the same incident with similar stories helps corroborate information, but it also slows the story down. Knowing American Masters, I am sure this documentary will have better production values.

Also on the Woody front, the Klezmatics are releasing new CD of previously unpublished Woody Guthrie songs. “Wonder Wheel” will hit stores on July 25th when the group appears at Keyspan Park in Brooklyn as the minor league baseball’s Brooklyn Cyclones help celebrate Woody Guthrie Day, an official celebration proclaimed by the Borough of Brooklyn!

As with many “folkies”, Woody Guthrie has been an influence in my life. I would not call him a role model as any individual who led an often nomadic life that impacted on his family life is not someone who I would look to for inspiration. What captured my imagination is the sheer genius that flowed through his body that allowed him to create moving songs, stories and art. For me, his songs captured the spirit of a nation during the the 20th century. They are songs of work, hope and power. Guthrie’s work showed me the power that exists in folk music to capture our history, spread the news, and most importantly to inspire and motivate. Woody’s music planted a seed in me, and I quickly began exploring the music of his colleagues and apprenctices of future generations.

Indirectly, Woody Guthrie led me to my relationship with radio. More directly, it was his widow – Marjorie Mazia Guthrie who inspired me to see the full potential of what I could accomplish in radio. I also would end up changing my major and turning towards broadcasting as a career choice.

In the spring of 1977 I was working at WFDU-FM in Teaneck, NJ doing newscasts and a progressive rock show. Folk music was frowned upon by station managment as a fad that had long since faded from relevance. There were very few albums (we were on vinyl then kids!) of folk music, save for a few.

The film “Bound For Glory” had been released earlier, and it was nominated for a couple of Academy Awards. My interest in Guthrie gave me an idea. I read that his widow Marjorie Guthrie created the Woody Guthrie Foundation as well as an organization that was working on finding a cure and improving patient care for victims of Huntington’s Chorea. Hearing that Marjorie was working in New York City, I opened up the phone book and found her number (pre-internet days!). I was surprised to get through directly to her, and she was most cordial. Not having really thought out what direction I wanted to go in with the interview, she suggested that I stop by her office for a chat.

The Woody Guthrie Foundation was located in a room inside a suite of offices leased to Harold Leventhal. I still remember her coming to the front desk to greet me. She exuded energy and life as well as a sense of beauty of a woman who was gracefully entering her sixties. Her warm smile and greeting made me feel comfortable in an instant. She showed me around the modest space – a series of cabinets that contained some of Woody’s papers, a few scattered albums on a shelf and other knick knacks that you would find in any business. She introduced me to Harold who was walking through. I was in awe, and looking back I am sure that my lack of experience in radio was evident.

We sat down at her desk and discussed what I wanted to do. My thoughts were to put together a special on Woody by interviewing Marjorie about their life together. I did not know much about Hungtingtons, other than a few sentences that I read in a book. I was soon to discover that many of the items that I read about Woody were not true. Marjorie would set me straight.

Back in 1977, WFDU lacked many resources, including decent portable tape recorders. Since the program that I envisioned in my mind would run about an hour. I asked her if she would be willing to visit our studios in Teaneck, NJ. She quickly agreed. We scheduled the interview for the following week.

Now, I have to stress that this was taking place in 1977. WFDU was only 6 years old – a radio station built on hand me down equipment, run by students, and operated by Fairleigh Dickinson University. The program was solid DJ programming – spinning records and chatter by DJ’s that were learning how to speak on mic. FM radio had reached its peak years and was about to evolve into the commercial claptrap that exists today, but for the staff of WFDU-FM we were trying to be creative and mix music that was not being heard anywhere else. Doing interviews was not a common feature.

I was met with indifference by the station management at the time. I was told to basically do what I want, but there was no enthusiasm or encouragement. When Marjorie showed up, she surprised me by bringing along Tom Taylor, an actor/musician who was developing a one man show as Woody Guthrie. He needed a place to tune up so I showed him our music library. I went back to our production studio to chat with Marjorie.

A few minutes later a red-faced station director appeared at the door of the studio and asked to speak to me. He walked me back to his office and started asking me just what the hell I was doing. A musician playing a guitar in the library? People were trying to work! Why was I disrupting the operation like this? Didn’t I know that our studio was not meant to record live music? What did I plan to do? I tried to tell him that everything was under control, but he did not want to hear it. I was told to get this wrapped up and we would talk later.

Okay, this was not shaping up to be the way I wanted my first interview to go. I think Marjorie might have noticed that I was flustered, and SHE did her best to make ME feel comfortable!! This is not the way Radio 101 is taught!

The interview began. Listening back to the tape, you can hear my nerves on edge at the beginning, but as soon as I asked Marjorie the first question she made everything work. I would imagine that she had done numerous interviews, but as you listen to the tape you can hear how personable she made the conversation and how she knew the important facts and information should get out. We talked about how she met Woody, their lives together, politics, Arlo, music, the movie, and of course – Huntington’s. That was the reason she was eager to appear on the program. Marjorie knew that Huntington’s was a disease that most people knew nothing about. She knew there were misconceptions and she was there to get the story right.

Using precise words and thoughts, Marjorie described the later years of Woody’s life and explained Huntington’s Disease using Woody and his family as a tool to tell her story. By making it personal, she was able to relate to my audience with descriptions that we could all visualize. Instinctively, she knew her audience and she touched anyone who was listening to that program.

Tom Taylor was terrific! A few short years after the interview, Tom would bring his performance to Off-Broadway and garner positive reviews. For that day, Tom was “channelling” Woody’s spirit and illustrating points that Marjorie was making.

I could not have asked for a better day. My engineer, Ed Jerlinski, proved our station director was wrong as he was able to return a nice mix for the program. After Marjorie and Tom left the studio, the station director had cooled down a bit, but was still unhappy that I turned his radio station into a temporary “circus”. By most standards, Marjorie and Tom were model guests. No one, except for this guy, would have thought twice. Yet, I was trying something new – and this man did not like seeing his orderly operation altered!

The showed aired on Easter Sunday, 1977. I spent about two weeks making minor edits (for time and to remove some of my stuttering), and I was very proud with what I put together. I also received my first listener letter – a glowing approval from a local resident who happened to hear the program.

To his credit, the station director called me in his office and commended me on the program. Even during his tirade, we remained civil to each other. When the program aired he finally saw what I was trying to accomplish, and he gave me credit. He also began to encourage me, and eventually made me the program director of WFDU-FM. Change is never easy, but we were able to make it happen.

What the interview also did was change my perspective on what I wanted to do with my life. My career goal was to become a teacher, but after doing this interview I felt a strong pull to enter broadcasting in some form or another. By Marjorie’s example, I learned how important radio can be to share information and knowledge, as well as offering entertainment that wasn’t mainstream. I enjoyed creating the program, and the feeling that my work had helped others made me feel important.

During the interview, Marjorie described how she started the Commitee to Combat Hungtington’s Disease. She sent a letter to a congressman in NJ asking for help, and he responded. He told her “never underestimate the power of one good letter sent to the right person”. It was inspiring to realize that one person CAN make a difference. Even though she had no medical training, Marjorie Guthrie dedicated the last 16 years of her life to helping other families dealing with Huntington’s, raising awareness of the disease as well as money for research, and she would serve on various state and federal panels including serving as chairperson for United States Commission for the Control of Huntington’s Disease and its Consequences in 1976-77 which enabled the creation of a federal research grant for more than $5 million.

I met with Marjorie several times after that interview, usually interviewing her when there was exciting research news coming in the fight against Huntington’s. The last time I saw her was at her son Arlo’s concert at Avery Fisher Hall. Marjorie Guthrie died in 1983 of pancreatic cancer.

Marjorie Guthrie made a difference to the world. The Commitee to Combat Huntington’s Disease merged with the Huntington’s Disease Society of America and continues to make great strides. Improvement has been made in treatment of patients, understanding of the disease and there is hope that an eventual cure will be found. Marjorie Guthrie helped make that happen. The Woody Guthrie Foundation would become the Woody Guthrie Archive, and the name of Woody Guthrie is being kept alive by Marjorie and Woody’s daughter Nora. The Archive continues to create new programs, share the archives, publish books and recordings, and keep Woody Guthries legacy alive. Marjorie Guthrie helped make that happen.

WFDU-FM also grew. A new station director would open the doors for folk music and encourage programs like the one I did with Marjorie. It was then that I began the program TRADITIONS, still heard Sunday afternoons on WFDU-FM . Soon after the show started, another management change would bring in our current Station Director Carl Kraus. Carl re-built the station and with the help of Program Director Barry Sheffield they would turn WFDU into a gem. New studios, new equipment, and opportunities to explore the possiblities of radio. I would not be there today if it wasn’t for them, and for the inspiration I found in Marjorie Guthrie.

So, as Woody Guthrie’s birth and legacy is celebrated this week, I hope many of you might pause to remember the work that Marjorie and others have accomplished. It is hard to stand in the shadow of an icon like Woody, but that icon would not have been possible without the help of loved ones.

Marjorie helped change my life. I am forever grateful.