Speaking of hope, I hope you all are feeling healthy and doing your part to bring positivity to the spaces you inhabit. Every positive action contributes to the uplifting energy we all need, now more than ever. With that in mind, one of my favorite stories from the pandemic is this one about how the Prime Minister of New Zealand assured children that the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy are essential workers.
Speaking of positivity, I want to acknowledge the positive impact the songs of John Prine have had on my life for nearly 40 years. Prine died of complications of COVID-19 early in the pandemic, back in April of 2020. One of my favorite concert experiences was taking my mom to see John Prine at a place in North Seattle called Parker’s in 1984. It was just John and his guitar, and the intimacy he projected had everyone feeling he was singing just to you, his creativity merging with your own creativity.
Speaking of creativity, during the Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court nomination hearings in 2018, I wrote a blog post about what a country might be like if its Supreme Court was made up of artists and musicians. As I wrote, I imagined John Prine being on that court. If you’d like to read it, find it here.
Andy Smallman 