Blog

  Connie Hawkins 1942-2017 John Thompson 1962-2017   How can it be that well-known thieves never pay for a life of crime but walk free while victims grieve the loss of invaluable time Connie Hawkins forever denied the years he would have soared John Thompson locked inside The only exit:  death’s door   Hawkins could … Read More

Tom Petty 1950-2017 If home is hell and so is school It can easily define who you are To build a life you need a tool For Tom Petty it was a guitar (with apologies to Woody Guthrie Slaying tyrants takes a knife And who wants a guitar all bloody When it can resurrect a … Read More

Albert Speer Jr. 1934-2017 Every boy wants to be his father To be his equal and to further his reflection But could blood be less thick than water? A needle of evil, a Fuhrer injection “My whole life I have tried To distance myself from him.” The Reich and his father long ago died Yet … Read More

John Abercrombie 1944-2017 My guess is that the Philadelphia Spectrum Has had throughout the years Many who have asked the simple question: “What am I doing here?” Granted most doing the asking Were lost in drug-dazzled delusion But at least one was carefully crafting His part in rock- jazz fusion Abercrombie was just getting some … Read More

Sonny Burgess  1929-2017 He played frantic, jangling guitar One of the most electrifying stars In the Sun Records galaxy in Memphis He fell, met mortality and left us He played lead with full-tilt loco Growled and shrieked a manic vocal Though crowds went crazy as he tore it apart He and The Pacers never made … Read More

Marian C. Diamond  1926-2017 Acetylcholinesterase. It’s good to have a lot if you are wending through a maze as a rat (or not – I go down dead-end lanes though I’ve been that way before That enzyme of the brain? I could use a little more) Acetylcholinesterase. It’s fortunate we got it Without it we … Read More

Margaret Bergmann Lambert  1914-2017 She was a Jew who could jump She would have won the gold at Berlin But the twentieth century’s Donald Trump Laid a trap and lured her in A movement arose to boycott the games Unless Germany showed it was unbiased A fake competition – Bergmann came And of course she … Read More