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Tuesday, April 28, 2020

Narrowing The Communication Gap


“It seems to me that it's every man's obligation to make what contribution he can. You live each day as best you can. That, to me, is what makes life interesting.” – Rod McKuen

Born in a California homeless shelter on this date in 1933, McKuen was one of the best-selling singer-songwriter poets in the United States during the late 1960s, and continued to produce a wide range of recordings, which included popular music, spoken word poetry, film soundtracks and classical music.  He died in 2015. 
      Never taken seriously by critics or many of his fellow writers, he nonetheless wrote poems and songs about love and nature that connected with everyday people, selling over 100 million songs and 60 million books of poetry worldwide.   He won critical acclaim for his 1968 Lonesome Cities, which won a Grammy for Best Spoken Word album.    One of his most popular and enduring song poems was “If You Go Away,” and if you ever get the chance to see a clip of his performance of “What a Wonderful World,” done at age 78, you’re in for a great treat. 

 “I tried not to put messages in my songs,” McKuen said.  “My only message was man's communication with his fellow man. I just wanted to narrow the gap of strangeness and alienation.” 



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