Don't mourn, organize!

It’s with a heavy heart that I pass on the news that last Friday, Utah Phillips sloughed off his mortal coil after a protracted struggle with a bum ticker. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Phillips, the simplest way to describe him would be as a folk singer. But he was much more.

Utah Phillips was a living link to our past. He was a brilliant storyteller. He was a “people’s historian” in the truest sense of the term. He kept alive the oral traditions of tall tales and songs from a bygone era. He was a hobo troubadour. An organizer. An agitator. I would go so far as to say that I learned as much about labor history listening to Phillips’ folksy tenor as I did from reading dozens of books on the subject. His life and the stories he told made him something of a personal hero in a day when individuals of that caliber are exceedingly rare.

A great introduction to Phillips’ and his work can be found on the two albums on which he collaborated with Ani DiFranco, The Past Didn’t Go Anywhere and Fellow Workers (both “must owns,” in my estimation). He also left a body of solo work that is well worth checking out. Here’s a clip of him plying his trade:



Utah Phillips would be the last person to ask us to indulge in “pie in the sky when you die” eulogies. A more fitting tribute would be to continue the important work to which he dedicated his life – helping people remember their past in order to build a better future.