Ya know, I think this Moondog fella probably retired up here.  He may still
be living under a bridge or on the fringes somewhere.  When I worked at the
local hospital we had a dr that grew up in NJ.  His parents came to visit
one time and his mother remarked that there were more wierdos per sq ft in
Brattleboro than any other place on earth, and she was familiar with the
Big City.  We do seem to be sort of a Mecca for the unusual here.  Don't
know why except that farmers tend to be tolerant of others.  It is an
experience to go to town and see the parade.  They don't bother me, except
the "same sex" stuff.  That gives me the willies.  They have a bar just up
the road from us but it is only open late at night so we never see them.
Ruth





At 1:56 PM -0500 12/11/03, Bruce Marcham wrote:
>Moondog was a fave of my parents when they lived in NYC back in the early
>'51 up on 6th Avenue.  He used to play his homemade  instrument in a
>doorway near where they worked.  Once when they grabbed dinner in that
>neighborhood he came into the restaurant and was fed.  They even have him
>performing on a record, a single cut on a (Folkways?) collection called
>"NY19" (for the old postal code for a neighborhood).  There was mention of
>his passing away on NPR a few years ago and mention of a new album/tape/CD
>of his about five years ago, I think.
>
>I'm told Moondog had a shack in the woods down south of Ithaca about 15
>miles on Route 96B (maybe around Willseyville) and would come up from the
>city from time to time until some kids trashed it.  A friend of my folks'
>was on the bus to or from Binghamton one day when Moondog came out of a
>field and the bus driver stopped to pick him up, Viking helmet, cape, and
>all.
>
>For some reason I thought he moved out around the "Yea God" community
>(speaking of homesteading) in West Danby area (about ten miles southwest
>of Ithaca which is, of course, aka The Little Apple, Heaven On Earth, The
>Other Center Of The Universe, etc.)?  I think there was mention of Moondog
>earlier on BP (by CP or JC?).
>
>Some benefactor from Skandanavia (or Holland?) got him a gig with an
>orchestra late in his life.  I guess that's what resulted in the most
>recent recording.
--
Ruth Barton
[log in to unmask]
Dummerston, VT

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