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Rod in concert, Riverton, 2001. Photo
courtesy Jay Hagan
A Thought for Today
There are no postponements in life, it
continues with or without us.
.ASK
ROD
THE STREET
Dear Mr. McKuen: In January 2005 a long time dream
will become a truth for me. I am coming to San Francisco.
Because you shared with us the secrets and sorrow of Stanyan Street, it
is somewhere I have always wanted to go. Now I am.
What would you suggest as the best part of Stanyan Street that I
shouldn't miss? Many Thanks, Lynda McClelland Richmond, IN
Dear Lynda, Thanks for writing and good luck on your trip to San
Francisco in January (take an umbrella.)
I get lots of inquiries about Stanyan Street and am always at a loss to
point out places of interest on it. Stanyan is located near Auto Row and
the Haight/Ashbury area where the love in's took place during the
sixties. That’s about it.
The street itself is in a residential area and is worth driving or
walking along because of the many fine old houses (many have been
restored to their previous glory.)
There are some ‘don’t miss’ places to visit in Baghdad by the Bay,
Fisherman’s Wharf, The North Beach District and the downtown shopping
area. I’d recommend a cable car ride to Nob Hill and a look at Golden
Gate Park and the Pacific Heights area. Take an afternoon trip across
The Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalito.
Have a great trip Lynda and don’t forget to write back and tell me about
your adventures. All the Best, Rod
AFTERNOON IN AUSTIN
Billy Iz at Stanyan House forwarded this note on to me:
I heard a reading by Rod McKuen at the Texas Book
Festival. He read a beautiful poem about a 50-year-old woman. By the
time I got to the autograph place - they were out of his books. Could
you tell me which book this poem would be in and where I can purchase
it? Unfortunately I do not know the name of the poem. Please help. L.
Youens
Dear Linda, Thanks for coming to the reading. It was great being back in
Austin after all these years. I took three sweaters with me and never
wore one once. I don’t remember the temperatures ever getting to 88 in
past October’s I’ve spent there. After the book signing Ann Martin and I
foolishly decided to walk back to our hotels. The walk lasted two blocks
when we decided to cab it.
Sorry they ran out of books. The poems I read were taken from my two
most recently published books A Safe Place to Land and Rusting in the
Rain. Both are available from
Stanyan House. The poem you mentioned is called “Lillian at Fifty”
and is from Rusting in the Rain. Thanks for asking. Warmly, Rod
Rod reading at The State Capitol in Austin 10/30/04.
Photograph by Karen Pettit ©2004 Stanyan Music Group
NEW & OLD
FRIENDS
Hi Rod, A new lady has just entered my life and
she loves your poetry. Because of that I've just discovered your site
and realize why she is so touched by your writing. Very poignant and I
think most of us will relate to it. I've never been into poetry much
before, found a lot of it pretentious but yours is pretty good stuff.
Power to your elbow. Tony Martin, England
Dear Tony, Thanks for the nice note and welcome aboard. I hope you will
continue to enjoy my work and that it will lead you to other writers.
Most of all I wish you all the best with the 'new lady in your life.'
Isn't it great to know that if we remain open there will always be a
chance that someone new will happen by and make a difference? With
Cheers, Rod
====
I HAVE BEEN A FAN OF YOURS SINCE HIGH SCHOOL, LOVE
LISTEN TO THE WARM, I COMPLETELY WORE THAT PAPERBACK OUT READING IT OVER
AND OVER AGAIN. YOU HAVE A WONDERFUL WAY WITH WORDS. GOD BLESS YOU.
SINCERELY KATY
PS I AM NOT SHOUTING, JUST SIGHT IMPAIRED A BIT.
YET YOUR WORK IS DEFINITELY SOMETHING TO SHOUT ABOUT.
Dear Katy, It wouldn't matter if you did shout. In this noisy world
sometimes we have to yell to be heard above the crowd. As for being
'sight impaired', join the club. I did a poetry reading over the weekend
and had to hold the book so close I realized it's time for a new
prescription. Tempis Fudge-it.
Thanks for the thoughtful words and welcome to A Safe Place to Land.
Warmly, Rod
THE TRILOGY
Dear Rod, I have desperately tried to find several of your albums in the
CD format. I have the original 12" records.
Please provide a contact for the following albums in CD format:
The Earth, The Sea & The Sky.
Thank you. Sincerely, Ron Mainor. Montgomery,
Alabama
Dear Ron, The Sea was available for awhile on CD but Warner Bros.
Records let it go out of print. It can still be found now and again on
The Net. The Earth & The Sky have not been issued but I hope before long
that will change.
I've added your address to a long list of those who will be notified
when The Trilogy comes out on CD, but there is no firm date yet.
Meanwhile thanks for asking. Cheers, Rod
THE ANITA KERR SINGERS
Eric Yeager passes this good news along.
Collector's Choice Music released last month:
From Nashville...the Hit Sound (the Anita Kerr
Singers)
http://www.ccmusic.com/item.cfm?itemid=CCM05152
SHE
Could I please have the rest of the lyrics ...she
was like a snowbird who comes to peck the crumbs & when you spread your
hand, so quickly flies. a little like a (woman)? a whole lot like a
child...one day like children do, she went away. BJ
Dear BJ, I wrote the lyrics to She sometime in the late fifties and they
remained in a notebook until 1965 when I showed them to composer Mort
Garson. He set my words to a beautiful melody and I included it in my
second RCA album, The Loner. Later both Glenn Yarbrough and The Kingston
Trio recorded it. Words and music are contained in “The Songs of Rod
McKuen, Vol. 1."
Here are the lyrics:
She
She was like the snowbird
who comes to peck the crumbs
and when you spread your hand
so quickly flies.
A little like the evening,
a whole lot like the night
and every night at suppertime
I’d celebrate her eyes.
She was like the rainbow
you find hard to believe,
changing moods and faces
all the time.
A little like the morning
a whole lot like the day
and every day I’d thank the skies
that she was mine.
She could cry and make you feel ashamed
and yet you have to burst with pride
because she shared your name.
She was like the willow
that stands below the hill
and calls no man her master
but the day.
A little like a woman,
a whole lot like a child
as children do she changed her mind
and one day went away.
Words by Rod McKuen, Music by Mort Garson @1965, 1967 by Stanyan Music
Group & Rod McKuen. Copyright renewed. All rights reserved.
Sleep warm and join Ken on Wednesday for This One Does it For Me.
RM 10/8/2004 12:22 AM PST
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