I never met him. We had something in common. My father was a representative for the I.W.W. and demonstrated in Union Square in NYC in 1915 against the exectution of Joe Hill by the Utah firing squad on a trumped-up murder charge.

I always considered Utah a kindred spirit whom I never got to meet.

His songs will live on. His compassion and sense of social justice speaks for itself.
He will be sorely missed.

Today, it is so easy to forget the spokespeople for justice. Many of them are thought to be "weird" or somehow "out of step" with current society.

When I think of Utah, I think of the brave people being denigrated by a corrupted Media.
I think of Cindy Sheehan, Scott Ritter, and the whistle-blowers in this vast ignominious
Administration. I think of Gene Debs, Ingersoll, LaFollette, Emma Goldman, and the other great advocates for our system of justice in America.

I think of how shallow the dialogue has become about the perversion and destruction of our democracy.

I think of Naomi Klein, Amy Goodman,
Bill Moyers, Keith Olbermann, Jeremy Scahill and the other Truth-Tellers who attempt to
dispel the ignorance and keep the true values of our country alive.

In this, I think of U. Utah Phillips, the great musical Truth-Teller. His works will live on.

Frank Hamilton