Albert V. Baez -- father of Joan Baez -- dead at 94 (obituary is interesting)

[LiberalHeart]

http://newsgrinder.blogspot.com/2007/03/father-of-joan-baez-dies-physicist.html

I've listened to and loved Joan Baez for years, but didn't know till now that a) her sister was also a folk singer, and b) that her father was so accomplished.

[NastyRiffraff]

1. Here's a Joan Baez song, still true today

Written during the Vietnam war:

(Words and Music by Joan Baez)

Been sitting on old park benches
Brother, hasn't it been fun?
But you remember me from the trenches
I fought in World War One
Yes, you saw us off at the troop train
Smiling a brave goodbye
But where were you when we came home
To claim our apple pie

Oh where's our apple pie, my friends?
Where's our apple pie?
We've walked and wheeled from the battlefield
Now where's our apple pie?

World War Two was a favorite
God was surely on our side
The teenage kids enlisted with
The blessings of their daddys' pride
Well the wars may change but not so the glaze
In the young boys' eyes
When they cry out for their mamas
In the hours before they die

Oh where's our apple pie, my friends?
Where's our apple pie?
We've walked and wheeled from the battlefield
Now where's our apple pie?

I volunteered for the last one
And I don't want to moralize
But somehow I thought we deserved the best
For the way we threw away our lives
For we all believed in something
I know it wasn't very clear
But I know it wasn't rats in a hospital room
And a broken-down wheelchair

Oh where's our apple pie, my friends?
Where's our apple pie?
We've walked and wheeled from the battlefield
Now where's our apple pie?

Yes, Johnny finally got his gun
Before he got his apple pie
Now he hasn't got a hand to eat it with
But still he doesn't want to die
Because he prefers to go on fighting
And let his baby brother know
When the next time around the call goes out
It's "Hell no, we won't go!"

There'll be no World War Three, my friends
There'll be no World War Three
We've walked and wheeled from the battlefield
There'll be no World War Three.

[LiberalHeart]

2. Makes me want to haul out her albums...

Wasn't she married to a guy who did hard labor for refusing to go to war?

Last time I saw her was when she joined Cindy Sheehan in Crawford.

[LiberalHeart]

3. Just looked it up: Joan was married to David Harris

Here's some background on him:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Harris_%28protestor%29

[Doctor_J]

4. I love Diamonds & Rust

isn't that about Dylan?

[Tansy_Gold]

5. I remember seeing some of Dr. Baez's films when I was in

high school, must have been '64. My physics teacher informed us that Dr. Baez was Joan Baez's father, but only a couple of us even knew who she was.

Peace, gentle soul.



TG

[ConsAreLiars]

6. His quaker ethic was clearly passed on to his daughter. Some of her music is on youtube at

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=baez&search=Search

Worth hearing. A lot of truth being told in song. Her father could die knowing that his daughters have carried on where he had ended. Spend some time listening, spread the word (and links0, and carry it on.

[xchrom]

7. peace be with ms baez and her family at this time.

[Judi Lynn]

8. Thought provoking comment by Joan Baez at the end of the article:

Joan Baez admired her father — a Quaker and pacifist — for valuing teaching and turning away from potentially lucrative defense work.

"We would never have all the fine and useless things little girls want …. Instead we would have a father with a clear conscience," she recalled in her memoir. "Decency would be his legacy to us."

Thanks for directing readers to read his obituary. Had no idea of her background.

He sounds incredible. Undoubtedly he will really, really be missed.