Woody Guthrie: Folksinger, Poet & More

By: Stan Paregien

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

This book documents how Woody Guthrie was born and reared in the hardest of times. But as he became an adult, he took advantage of America’s eagerness to mythologize the working man into a grassroots hero (as in John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath). He adopted the persona—the music, the speech, the look, and the habits--of the poor working class he observed in his travels.

He hardly ever stepped out from behind that myth, though he was in fact an intellectual with a gift for writing poetry, novels, and songs that connected with the young and the old, the educated elite and the nearly illiterate.

This book shows how the Okie from Okemah, Oklahoma may one day be seen as one of the most creative persons in the world and/or one of the most prolific. Though he died way too young, he left a treasure chest filled with his songs and poetry, his books of fiction, his cartoons and artwork, and his enormous number of audio recordings. He was the most prolific writer of folk songs America has ever seen.

The book documents that Guthrie’s work was amazing, both in its volume and its variety. In a little over a 17-year span, Woody produced two novels, over 500 cartoons, several oil paintings, some 3,000 lyrics and poems, and hundreds of audio recordings. And others may yet be discovered.

One of the author’s main goals in this study of the life and times of Woody Guthrie
was to present his findings with a user-friendly touch. He worked hard to present
this material in a straight-forward, chronological fashion. That is because he noticed some writers leap back and forth from one year to another without even leaving breadcrumbs for the reader to follow. So, noted the year that he was discussing over in the left margin.

Also, he avoided 50-cent words when a nickel-word would work. Scholars in
their university towers may not appreciate his casual language, and that is okay. The author did not have them in mind when he worked on this project. He created this book for common people, the same audience to whom Woody directed his songs.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Okie from Okemah 1

Chapter 2 Hard Luck Kid 21

Chapter 3 Depression & Dust in Texas 44

Chapter 4 A Left Turn in California 72

Chapter 5 The Big Apple & the Big War 105

Chapter 6 The Big War Ends 143

Chapter 7 Travelin’ Hard & Fast 221

Chapter 8 Life Gets Harder 243

Chapter 9 The Long Goodbye 271

Chapter 10 A Bumpy Road to Respect 300

Chapter 11 Woody in 2012 321

Chapter 12 Next-to-Last Chapter 360

Chapter 13 More Good Stuff 368

Addendum A Stan’s Biography 393

Addendum B 25 Other Books by Stan 396

Addendum C References 405