Richie Havens touched my life in many ways.
First, there was his unbelievable performance at Woodstock. That led to many memories of sitting in one of my best friend's bedroom in high school as my friend, who styled his guitar playing after that of Havens, showed me Haven's distinctive open tuning and sang songs of hope and freedom.
Most notably, however, was a night in the early 1970s when a friend and I drove into New York City to see him play in a bar on the Upper East Side. His performance that night, while great, was not the thing that made that night notable. Instead, it was his kind eyes and the loving look that he gave me when I found myself at the bar getting a drink right next to him as he was doing the same thing before the show.
Richie Haven's loving look that night caused an epiphany in my life view which consumed me for a long time immediately after it happened and that I have thought about a lot in the 40 years since. A light bulb was turned on. I saw it as an example of how I could make a difference in life - show unsolicited love to one person at a time in my life and hope they see in my look what I saw in Richie Havens' look and do the same thing to one person at a time in their lives. Together we can make the world a better place.
Richie Havens crossed over on April 22, 2013 but I will never forget him. He made the world a better place. Let's do the same thing in his memory.
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