Wednesday, December 07, 2011

This day in music - December 7, 1987: Harry Chapin is posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for his humanitarian work


In addition to his successful music career, Harry Chapin was engaged in humanitarian efforts to end world hunger. In 1977, he played a key role in establishing the Presidential Commission on World Hunger.

In 1987, he was posthumously awarded a Congressional Gold Medal for that work.

Chapin is best known for songs like "Cat's in the Cradle," "Taxi," "Circle," and "W*O*L*D."

He died in a traffic accident on July 16, 1981 at the age of 38 having dedicated much of his life to various philanthropic endeavours. The title of the Washington Post obituary at the time was "Harry Chapin's Riches: The Troubadour Who Laughed at Fame & Gave Away His Fortune
."
 

(Cross-posted at Lippmann's Ghost.)

Labels: , ,

Bookmark and Share

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home