A Nobel Prize for Pete Seeger?

A January 19th article -- by Peter Dreier in the Huffington Post, no less -- notes the growing call for Pete Seeger to be given the Nobel Peace Prize.

There's also a website -- nobelprize4pete.org -- where you can sign a petition to honor this man for his uncompromising and unyielding dedication to to goals of peace and justice. The important thing to note here is that the prize is only given to living individuals. Pete's 90th birthday is coming up in early May, so time really is of the essence.

Dispatches from the front

I'm on the road today, in California's great Central Valley. We had to put on the A/C because it was getting so warm.

We've spent several delightful days along Route 66, but now we're heading up to San Francisco State, where I'll be teaching a broadcasting course for a few months.

In other news, my manuscript of "A Route 66 Anthology" is off at a publisher. This book is a collection of stories by well-known authors that are set along the great mother-road.

Grammy Nomination for Pete

Pete Seeger's been nominated for a Best Traditional Folk Grammy for his "At 89" CD released earlier this year. Among others, he's up against Appleseed labelmate (and sister) Peggy Seeger for her album "Bring Me Home."

Others nominated in this category are Kathy Mattea,Tom Paxton, and Rosalie Sorrels.

Oh, yeah!

A mere 24 days, 23 hours, 28 minutes, and 13 seconds from now, we'll bid a gleeful adieu to the Bush regime's reign of error.

Gone for the Holidays

I'm traveling with Nina and Alexei for the holidays. I'd like to wish you all the best and brightest of the season, for whichever tradition you may follow.

We've been quite busy preparing for the award's season, both book, and radio. On top of that, I've been assembling materials for the class I'll be teaching at San Francisco State this next Spring semester.There's a lot of material to gather, but I've been doing this long enough that I've got a system down.

Happy (Belated) Birthday to Moe Asch - December 2nd

I can't believe we forgot this one! December 2nd marked the 103rd birthday of Folkways Records founder, Moe Asch.

Moses "Moe" Asch and the label he founded, Folkways (now Smithsonian Folkways), was instrumental in bringing folk music to the American public. Asch worked with such famous folk and blues singers as Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, Leadbelly, and Ella Jenkins.

He was the son of Yiddish language novelist and dramatist Sholem Asch and the younger brother of novelist Nathan Asch. After his death, the Folkways recordings were acquired by the Smithsonian Institution and are now part of the heritage of all Americans; many of the titles are reissued.

Cold weather here in the valley

Winter seems to be here. It's been cold and, today, even a little wet. Down here in our little office, we are baking more old reel-to-reel tapes in the food dehydrator to prepare them for transfer to digital format. There is an added benefit in that the heat from the dehydrator is also warming the room. A nice thing on a cold day like this.

Last week I was at CalTech, presenting a lecture on McCarthy era suppression of the folksinging community. (I was amazed at how small the actual CalTech property was for such a prestigious school!)

Someone recently recommended the movie "Trumbo" to me. I haven't had a chance to see it, but I understand it is a documentary about blacklisted screenwriter, Dalton Trumbo. It comes highly recommended. If you are interested in the blacklisting era and its effect on people's lives, check it out.