Archive for August, 2015

Andrew Wood

Posted in Miller-Woodlawn Memorial Park with tags , , on August 26, 2015 by Cade

awood1January 8, 1966 – March 19, 1990

It’s completely understandable if the casual music fan doesn’t know Andrew Wood’s name. It’s also a distinct possibility that the same fan might not know Mother Love Bone, the band Wood fronted. But, Wood’s influential work in the late-1980’s Seattle music scene and his tragic death touched off much of what the landscape of the 1990’s alternative music would come to look like.

In 1988, Andrew Wood formed the Seattle-based post-metal/pre-grunge alternative rock band Mother Love Bone with bassist Jeff Ament and guitarist Stone Gossard, both formerly of the locally-influential band, Green River. MLB showed massive promise in the burgeoning Seattle circuit. They recorded their debut album in 1989, but Wood never saw it released. After years of battling substance abuse, he died of a heroin overdose at the age of 24.

But, Wood’s story doesn’t end there. Continue reading

Harriet Beecher Stowe

Posted in Phillips Academy Cemetery with tags , on August 17, 2015 by Cade

stowe2June 14, 1811 – July 1, 1896

Harriet Beecher was a very well-educated writer from a very religious family who wrote dozens of books. But, none are as well-known or had as much of an impact as her landmark 1852 work, Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Originally produced as a serial for the abolitionist newspaper, The National Era, the story’s popularity (and accompanying controversy) demanded it be released in novel form. Cabin‘s depiction of the daily, oppressed life of slaves in America both enrapt a sympathetic people in the North and enraged Southerners whose very way of life depended on the slaves Stowe portrayed. The book sold outrageous amounts of copies. Continue reading

Jimi Hendrix

Posted in Greenwood Memorial Park with tags , , on August 13, 2015 by Cade

hendrix2November 27, 1942 – September 18, 1970

Any bio-let I could come up with for Jimi Hendrix would immediately fail to do him justice. Perhaps the most iconic guitar player in the history of rock-and-roll, Hendrix blazed (both figuratively AND literally) onto the scene in the late 1960’s and quickly became one of the most popular and sought-after artists around. His style was unique. His persona was wild. And his legend – following his untimely death at the age of 27 – remains unmatched and ever-expanding.

With that said…James Marshall Hendrix grew up in Seattle and idolized musicians like Elvis Presley and Little Richard. He learned guitar at 15 and found his first success in England where he formed his band, The Jimi Hendrix Experience. Continue reading

Martin Van Buren

Posted in Kinderhook Cemetery with tags , on August 4, 2015 by Cade

vanburen1

December 5, 1782 – July 24, 1862

Martin Van Buren, the 8th President of the United States, was born in mostly-Dutch-speaking Kinderhook, NY in 1782. He was the first U.S. President to be born AFTER the country had declared its independence from Britain. He was 5’6″. And, because of his upbringing, was the only President to speak English as a second language.

But, fun factoids do not a great president make. Continue reading