What is fame anyway? What makes a person famous? We've been talking about it here without defining terms. Some of the people mentioned above as being famous are strangers to me.My definition has always been related to popularity. Thus someone like Rick Fielding or Kendall can be defined as famous within the confines of our community. But outside of the Mudcat their fame is limited. When I Show Rick's tape to my friends and talk about how great it is they just look blank. We all recognize Rod Stewart or Gregory Peck and consider them famous. Paul Mills has been contributing to the Stan Rogers Memoriam Thread. Many people would have no idea who he is but those who are Stan fans do. Does that make him famous?
Another measure of fame is money. If you add this into the mix folkies don't even show their heads above water. We are all familiar with the personal power rich people wield. How much money do you think our resident famous folkies make? Consider Bill Staines who spends so much of his life on the road. He travels in a minivan driving alone down that long lonely highway from venue to venue. He is famous within the folk world but not exactly rich.
I guess I don't quite know what we should do about fame. We need to define it here for our puposes.