Category Archives: Guest Contributors

Guest Post: It Takes A Village To Kill A Fascist

Posted on by

Such timing! Another great guest post while I play catch-up from Brooklyn. This one’s from Sean Rapacki. I’ve never met Sean; he works with my best friend at a library in Ohio, so I do feel like I know him to an extent. My friend’s told me stories. Good ones. Sean signed up at the beginning of the year to read “Bound for Glory” and write some commentary. Here it is:

Teen Librarian, Writer and Aging Indie Rock Fan, Sean Rapacki got his undergraduate degree at the University of Chicago and his big shot librarian degree from Kent State University. When he’s not helping teens find a good book or reading one himself, he still occasionally picks up his guitar and belts out a song or two. He lives in Ohio with his wife, stepson and rescue dog.

Reading Woody Guthrie’s autobiography in the year 2012 it is impossible to ignore how Woody’s time resonates with our own. Every Occupy protester seems like a spiritual descendant of the man who wrote This Land Is Your Land. But it is not the history writ large in Bound For Glory that effects me most deeply. Conversely, it is the history writ small that sticks with me: strangers sharing some scraps of food or passing a bottle, looking out for each other amidst the adversity. Hard times tend to bring the worst in our nature, and we’re not shocked when we read about a man getting beaten for his money, or even getting beaten by those in power just for the thrill of exerting their power, but spontaneous acts of kindness still have the power to command our attention. When, while riding the top of a box car, two children literally give Woody the shirts off their backs to shield his guitar from the rain, how are we supposed to top that with pedestrian tales of selfishness and greed? There is something so ordinary, so utterly banal, about the machine that would oppress us, and something so magical and yet so simple about the acts of giving that define our resistance. When a couple of kids with nothing to their names can reach out to help protect something that, to them, symbolizes hope and creation, how can we possibly doubt that we are truly bound for glory, however hard the road may be and however unstoppable the forces that oppose us may seem? Guthrie was undoubtedly a remarkable man, but perhaps his greatest achievement was to see past all the struggle to those aspects of humankind that make us worth the struggle in the first place.

Guest Post: Traveling to a Protest

Posted on by

By Peter Diebold

When I was in Okemah, Oklahoma in July for Woodyfest, I hung out with Peter Diebold, a musician from suburban Chicago who’d hit the road with his guitar earlier in the year after getting involved and disillusioned with the Occupy movement. In light of the first anniversary of Occupy, and the fact that I finally got around to writing about the NATO conference in Chicago in May, I wanted Peter to tell about his experiences. He obliged, and here’s his story in his own words.

The morning was cold, especially with the wind from the train still tunneling under the axles of the semi truck trailer we’re sleeping under. I used my pack to block most of the wind, but still I slept uncomfortably with Seeger inching ever closer to me during the night. I didn’t mind the advances, but I had made it extremely clear I wasn’t comfortable and was being squished. The fact that he didn’t seem to care about that was pissing me off. I elbowed him a few times and got no response, so I decided to get up and enjoy the morning.

We were supposed to be getting off our train in Minneapolis so we could find a train with better hiding spots to take into Chicago. We must have slept right through the stop, an impressive feat when riding on a freight train. When they start up it’s like being in a fender bender at a stop sign, those fuckers can rock! I’m actually glad to be staying on this train. I want to go home to and this one’s hauling. Using the mile markers and my watch I calculated that we’ve been going about 60 mph consistently throughout the entire ride. Our train is also high priority because other freighters have been pulling over to let us by almost every time. The perfect train to get me back to Chicago as soon as possible. Everything is going my way, as usual.

Continue reading →

“Empty Snuff Cans” – Chapter Two

Posted on by

By Kim Gutschmidt

Chapter two of Bound for Glory introduces us to the Guthrie family and his hometown of Okemah, Oklahoma.  It begins with his birth in 1912 and he explains that he was named Woodrow Wilson Guthrie in honor of the soon-to-be President Wilson.

Okemah, in his childhood, was a small farming community of around 1,000 citizens.  Woody claims that everyone knew just about everyone else and the reader sees as the chapter progresses how that fact can be both an advantage and disadvantage.  Much is made of the reputation and impressions people living in Okemah leave on each other.

Woody had two older siblings, Clara and Roy, and an amusing part of the chapter tells of how a toddler Woody attempted to follow his brother and sister to school.  It reminded me of my own envy of seeing my older siblings go off to school each morning and I was left to entertain myself.  Woody composed his first little song while waiting for Clara and Roy to come home, the pickets in the fence his audience.

In the chapter Woody’s father, Charles, was a successful businessman dealing in land purchases and it was a source of pride for the family that they were able to live in a fine home and were able to purchase anything they desired at local merchants just by signing their names to a charge slip.

As in the first chapter, we see the theme of conflict in chapter two.  Charles Guthrie is described by Woody as being a fighter in his land deals.  Woody writes, “Papa was a man of brimstone and hot fire in his mind and in his fists and was known all over that section of the state as the champion of all the fist fighters.”  Woody’s mother, Nora, seems to have a more gentle nature.  Woody describes her as one who taught the children songs and ballads and stories and to “…always try and see the world from the other fellow’s side.” His father, however, “…taught us never and never to allow any earthly human to scare us, bully us, or run it over us.” It seems that those early lessons from his parents taught Woody to use his love of music and storytelling to fight for and demand fair treatment and to encourage others to stand up against wrong.

Another theme continued from the first chapter is one of cooperation between others in order to solve a dilemma that, on the surface, seems near impossible.  Woody tells a rather funny story of him trying to best a playmate and in his eagerness to be higher and therefore superior to his playmate, Woody finds himself literally up a tree and unable to get down again.  It’s the cooperation of other children in town, along with the incentive of a reward, that gets him back on the ground.

Although chapter two has charming and lighthearted stories contained within (the conversation Woody has with his mother after his tree rescue is especially sweet), there’s a dark cloud that seems to be gathering along the horizon for the family.  It seems that sadness will come to the Guthrie family before too long.

 

“Soldiers in the Dust” – Chapter One

Posted on by

By Kim Gutschmidt

Chapter one of Bound for Glory finds Woody Guthrie traveling in an incredibly cramped, hot, dusty boxcar with dozens of other men.  He’s armed with his guitar, trying to keep it safe as he struggles to get a little cool air to breathe and a little more comfortable place to continue his trip.

Woody talks with some of his fellow travelers, trading a few brief details about who they are.  The boxcar in which they ride had held bags of cement and the dust is choking and the hot air stifling.

Throughout the changing scenes during the ride, the pervading feeling I had, besides the discomfort the men were experiencing was the feeling of conflict.  In fact the chapter is titled “Soldiers in the Dust”.  A man Woody meets early in the chapter talks about how he can just tell which men will get into a fight and tips off those who are willing to bet on it.  Tempers are hot, men are irritable, curses fly and the arguments slack off only to heat up again at the slightest provocation.

And then when you think every man is for himself, we see examples of men willing to set aside their anger for the moment and help another.  Men stand aside and let others by the door to get a breath of fresh air.  Woody defends a young man trying to sleep.  Still the conflicts rise up again, harsh words and threats are thrown around easily.

Eventually Woody, along with another man, are shoved from the car and end up climbing to the top of the boxcar.  It’s not comfortable up there but at least there’s fresh air to breathe and not a crowd of fighting, pushing men to contend with.  It’s this part of the chapter that made the greatest impression on me.  As Woody and the other man ride on the roof of the boxcar, along with two young runaway boys, a wild, fierce rainstorm begins.  They’ve traded in one set of conflicts for one that’s wilder and potentially more dangerous than the ones they left inside the boxcar.  But this is also the time when cooperation eases their plight.  They huddle together to fight off the rain and the men and boys have sacrificed their some of their clothing to protect Woody’s guitar, lest it become soaked and ruined by the rain.

Woody rails against the storm and and says “See if I care!” and it that line I see his determined spirit.  His determination to continue in the face of adversity and the little group on the roof of the boxcar illustrates the idea that if we’re going to face a seemingly unbeatable conflict, we need to pool our resources and band together.

The Forward From the Top Floor Corner

Posted on by

My dear friend Kim Gutschmidt, who’s been in my life since 2000, is one of the most well-read people I know. She devours books, and processes them better than just about anyone. This is a woman who’s been known to hold a book with one hand while scrubbing her bathroom floor with the other. I’ve been so excited to read her take on “Bound for Glory.” You’ll hopefully have the opportunity to read lots from her, as she’s planning to write about each chapter on her blog, Top Floor Corner.

Kim’s a Mississippi native, but has lived in Magdeburg, Germany, for … what? Fifteen years? She shares her life with her husband. And it’s an interesting life full of love, spread across continents. Every few years, when she visits her family in Mississippi, I try to make the trip to Memphis to spend some time with her. It’s always a riot of barbecue and laughter when I’m with Kim. And knitting. Lots of knitting.

Kim and I have a running joke that we’re identical cousins: We laugh alike, we walk alike, at times we even talk about. You could lose your mind. Really.

Here we are at Corky’s in Memphis in 2007. Kim’s on the left, and I’m just happy to be there. On the road to spend time with an amazing person: best thing ever.

Here’s Kim’s take on Pete Seeger’s “Bound for Glory” foreward. You can read what she said about it on her blog, too. - Robin

The edition of Bound for Glory that I have has a foreword written by the great singer/songwriter Pete Seeger.  I don’t know when he wrote it but I assume it was shortly after Woody’s death in October, 1967.  I was also made aware that after the film, Bound for Glory, was released in 1976 the book, Bound for Glory, was re-released and Studs Terkel also wrote a foreword for the book.  I’d be interested in Stud’s take on Woody and his book as he was another champion of working people.

Continue reading →