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Harry Chapin
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Harry Chapin

Harry Chapin (December 7, 1942 - July 16, 1981) was an American singer and songwriter. He originally intended to be a documentary film-maker, and directed Legendary Champions in 1968, then decided in 1971 to focus on music. With John Wallace, Tim Scott and Ron Palmer, Chapin started playing in various local clubs in New York City.

Chapin's debut album was Heads and Tails (1972), which was a success thanks to the single "Taxi". The follow-up, Sniper and Other Love Songs, was less successful but his third, Short Stories, was a major success. Verities and Balderdash, released soon after, was even more successful, bolstered by the single "Cats in the Cradle."

In the mid 1970s, Chapin focused on his social activism, including raising money to combat hunger in the United States and co-founding the organization World Hunger Year, before returning to music with On the Road to Kingdom Come. He also released a book of poetry, Looking...Seeing, in 1977.

Harry Chapin died on July 16, 1981 in a car accident and was interred in the Huntington Rural Cemetery, Huntington, New York. His epitaph is taken from his song 'I Wonder What Would Happen to this World'. It is :

''Oh if a man tried
''To take his time on Earth
''And prove before he died
''What one man's life could be worth
''I wonder what would happen
''to this world

For his campaigning for social issues, in particular his highlighting of hunger around the world and in the US, including being widely recognised as being the key player in the creation of the Presidential Commission on World Hunger in 1977, Chapin was posthumusly awarded the Special Congressional Gold Medal in 1987.

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