R.I.P. U. Utah Phillips (1935-2008)

Here is an entertainer whom I would love to have seen and never did. I did hear several excellent performances of his on NPR folk music programs, Mountain Stage. Utah, or "U. Utah" as he preferred to be called, traveled the country for years on the "folk" circuit. Although he was probably a musician from birth, he did not turn to that as a livelhihood until forced out of a job as a government archivist in Salt Lake City, Utah due to his political activities.

U. Utah Phillips had continued to perform in recent years despite problems with his heart which finally took him from this earth on Friday, May 23rd at 11:30 P.M. PDT. His home for many years had been Silver City, Nevada. His son, Duncan, carries on in his father's footsteps there and is making the funeral pland and keeping an active blog dedicated to his father's memory. Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman dedicated an entire hour-length program to airing an interview which she did with U. Utah Phillips back in 2004.

Both of my parents are actually older than he was, so this is a big wakeup call for me.