I first met Len Chandler at the Newport Folk Festival, which I was assigned to cover as a cub reporter for the Hartford Times. Len was a mythical singer/songwriter, a “who’s who” activist in the peace & civil rights movements. Len convinced Pete and Toshi Seeger to let me join the crew on the maiden voyage of the Clearwater, from Maine to NYC. Other adventures followed with him, including a nail-biting, gonzo cross-country trip in his 1959 Mercedes from New York to LA, just the two of us. Partly due to Len, I was able to realize what I really wanted to be: a photographer and later, a filmmaker.

Had the chance to re-unite with him shooting interviews in LA for THE NINE LIVES OF BARBARA DANE (Maureen Gosling, Jed Riffe & Nina Ménendez). Len changed my life and I can’t thank him enough.

One more time, thank you, Len Chandler. Hope to see you in my dreams.