December 07
Harry Forster Chapin's Birthday

Harry Chapin was an extraordinary human being who was also a talented film maker and singer/songwriter. He started his professional career as a documentary filmmaker.writing and directing Legendary Champions (1968), an academy award-nominated film about boxing heavyweights featuring John L. Sullivan, Jack Dempsey, and Jack Johnson.

Harry then turned to songwriting and performing and soon was signed by Electra Records where he produced a number of albums marked by his story-telling abilities, resulting in his first major hit, "Taxi' from debut album Heads & Tales (1972). "Taxi" became one of the longest songs played on radio up until that time. In the July 6, 1972 Rolling Stone, Harry said "I never really drove a cab, but I do have a hack license in case of emergencies – like no money." Other hits followed, such as "Cat's in the Cradle" and "W.O.L.D."

Harry wrote and performed a Broadway musical The Night That Made America Famous that featured his brothers Tom and Stephen and Lynne Thigpen. He then wrote the music and lyrics for the musical Cotton Patch Gospel, a one man show, with four band members that retells the life of Jesus as if in modern day, rural Georgia.

However, it was Harry's passion for philanthropic work that made him such an extraordinary human being. He donated an estimated third of his paid concerts to more than 50 charities and 33 organizations focused on ending world hunger. and was a key player in the creation of the Presidential Commission on World Hunger in 1977.

In 1981,at age 38, while on the way to another benefit, Harry was killed when a tractor-trailer demolished his car on the Long Island Expressway.. He was posthumously awarded a Congressional Gold Medal in 1987 for his work to end world hunger /To celebrate Harry's birthday and memory, we turn his song "30,000 Pounds of Bananas" about a banana truck accident occurring on the way to Scranton Pennsylvania. that includes the following lyric:

Just imagine thirty thousand pounds of bananas.
Yes, there were thirty thousand pounds of mashed bananas.
Of bananas. Just bananas. Thirty thousand pounds.
of Bananas. not no driver now. Just bananas!"

So here is a recipe using some of these mashed bananas which you can make while watching Harry's documentary Legendary Champions.

Banana Bread

Ingredients

1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
7 large ripe bananas, mashed
1&1/2 tsp vanilla extract

4 eggs, slightly beaten
3 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda

Instructions

1. Cream the butter and sugar. Blend in the bananas, vanilla and eggs.
2. Whisk together the dry ingredients.
3. Add to the bread mixture and mix until just combined. Pour into two greased 9x5 inch loaf pans.
4. Bake at 350°F. Check on the bread after 35 minutes (it may take 45 to 60 minutes). Banana bread is done when a toothpick
inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool the banana bread in the pan for 10 minutes then cool completely on a wire rack.

Makes two loaves