The actions of the FBI sometimes remind me of the three dudes in this song. I figure that if you're not on somebody's list, you ain't got much to be proud of.

In my book, I have a brief piece (couple pages) about my war with the draft board back about then. I use a wheelchair now, but at the time, as a result of having had polio, I walked with the aid of a leg-brace and a pair of forearm crutches. I have never had a more thorough physical examination, and they still weren't convinced that I wasn't faking it. It's a bit of thread-drift, but if anybody's interested, I'll post it. It's kinda funny. Your tax dollars at work!

Just to avoid any possible confusion, the Pacific Northwest Folklore Society and the Seattle Folk Song Society that Bob speaks of were two different organizations. The PNFS got organized in late '52 or early '53, and imploded the day after the Seeger concert on Oct. 5th, 1954. Folk singers in this area were a bit leery of belonging to any organizations for some time afterwards, but a few years later ('57 or '58 if I remember correctly), a group got together and formed the Seattle Folk Song Society. As I recall they met on Saturday nights and the set-up was very similar to the current Seattle Song Circle. They needed a bit of guidance to keep from crashing into the wall, and that's when Bob (Deckman) came along and provided it. A few other attempts were made to form an actual, formal folklore society, but most of them fizzled until 1966 when the Seattle Folklore Society got organized. It's going strong and doing well.

Don Firth