18 Jun 16 - 11:31 AM (#3796402) Subject: Lyr Add: Stetson Kennedy From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch Stetson Kennedy Woody Guthrie (w), Billy Bragg (m) I done spent my last three cents Mailing my letter to the president I didn't make a show, I didn't make a dent So I'm swinging over to this independent gent Stetson Kennedy Writing his name in I cain't win out to save my soul Long as Smathers-Dupont's got me in the hole Them war profit boys are squawking and balking That's what's got me out here walking and talking Knocking on doors and windows Wake up and run down election morning And scribble in Stetson Kennedy I ain't the world's best writer nor the world's best speller But when I believe in something I'm the loudest yeller If we fix it so's you can't make money on war We'll all forget what we're killing folks for We'll find us a peace job equal and free Dump Smathers-Dupont in a salty sea Well, this makes Stetson Kennedy the man for me [© 2000, Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc.] YT: Billy Bragg and Wilco - Stetson Kennedy https://www.woodyguthrie.org/Lyrics/Stetson_Kennedy.htm |
18 Jun 16 - 06:17 PM (#3796478) Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Stetson Kennedy From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch "Smathers-Dupont" In 1950 Stetson Kennedy put himself up as a write-in candidate against Florida U.S. Senator George Smathers who had so notoriously defeated Claude "Red" Pepper in the Democrat Party primary for that office. The above is Woody Guthrie's song for the Kennedy write-in campaign and echoes much of Pepper's equally notorious counter-mudslinging against Smathers in the earlier election. The "Dupont" actually references Smather's law firm major client, Edward Ball, executor of the Alfred I. duPont Testamentary Trust and pres. of the St. Joe Company; Henry Flagler's old railroad and hotel interests and countless other Florida & Bahama investments in sugar, lumber, railroads, real estate &c. |
18 Jun 16 - 06:28 PM (#3796482) Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Stetson Kennedy From: Joe Offer Stetson Kennedy (1916-2011) was a fascinating character. You can see him on a number of YouTube video. Here's one where he's talking about Woody Guthrie: ...oh, and take a look at "Stetson Kennedy's America": |
18 Jun 16 - 08:04 PM (#3796504) Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Stetson Kennedy (W.Guthrie/B.Bragg) From: Joe Offer After his death, Stetson's home became Beluthahatchee Park. The Beluthahatchee Park is a four (4) acre park located within the 70 acre tract of land purchased by Kennedy in 1948 after the 18 acre Beluthahatchee Lake was created by impounding Mill Creek in 1945. This lake meanders through a natural basin and is surrounded by high bluffs, currently owned by the Lake Dwellers Association, a non-profit Florida corporation formed by the lakefront residents. In 1949 the 70 acre tract was subdivided and platted by the owner/developer Stetson Kennedy who recorded the restrictive covenants setting aside land in perpetuity as a wildlife refuge, and stipulating that residential construction be consistent with the developer's goal of "serving as a working demonstration that human and natural habitat need not be mutually exclusive, but can coexist in harmony." In October 2011, Dr. Paul Ortiz gave a memorial presentation in Gainesville titled Stetson Kennedy's America. Kennedy's widow, Sandra Parks Kennedy, speaks at the end of the presentation. At about 1:05, Mrs. Kennedy tells the story of Beluthahatchee, a term Zora Neale Hurston heard from Florida African-Americans in the 1930s to describe a mythical place where discord is resolved. Kennedy sold his home to the county, and it is now a park. He gave his books to the Civic Media Center in Gainesville. |