"I'd rather be wrong than be frightened." .....

"The credo of my life is very simply, when in doubt, do something. The errors I make are going to be errors of commission, not omission."

So said Harry Chapin. One of my heroes.

Harry received the Congressional Gold Medal of Freedom, the highest honor an American civilian can receive from it's government.

Harry was recognized posthumously for his work on world hunger.

I went to every concert of his I could. I loved his storytelling, I felt a real kinship. Even rode a Greyhound into Scranton PA, just to remember Harry.

He wrote a song called Northwestern 222. It was about his catching the red-eye flight from LA to New York, and it brought him home.

In golf, to get "home" is to get on the green.

I made the Winged Wedge 222 out of an old Northwestern sand wedge. I added a wing and felt it appropriate to name it 222, my way of paying homage to Harry Chapin.

I still volunteer in a local soup kitchen. I helped set up two more. These were small acts in the fight against hunger. I owe Harry Chapin for that consciousness.

Amber Sorenson's story moved me. It did. It does.

I'd like for you to read it too.

It is at:

http://www.daydreambelievers.com/about.html

I'm HONORED she called me a friend.

This is what sowpub is all about. It is what many of the gurus don't get. That is OK with me, I get it.

You do too.

You couldn't buy Amber's egg from me. It means that much.

And I won't give up my Harry Chapin ALBUMS either, although needles are getting harder to find.

WE wanted this site to be a repostitory of wisdom.

Wisdom is the diamond of truth; knowledge tempered by enduring the fires of experince.

WE have respect for the fires of life you all have endured.

WE appreciate the knowledge shared by a Jim Straw, knowledge that could make us all a little better off financially.

WE thank the learned teachers, who share their experiences, their triumphs, and what is different on this forum, their failures,

their losses, and their despair.

WE want to bring this kind of wisdom to people. The seeds of experience, placed caringly into fertile soil, taking root and growing beyond our expectations.

It is not about I. Or ME. A theme YOU will hear over and over.

It's not about US getting richer, and them getting poorer. It is not about having MORE...it is about sharing more.

Personal responsibility coupled with meaningful activity, connected to an ideology that transcends gender, race, religion or creed;

an idea of the WE.

Harry Chapin had that idea. He gave. 50% of his concerts were benefits.

Harry used to say, "One for the other guy, then one for me."

It is echoed in Charles Prosper's "one question"...

You can find it clearly in Richard Dennis's "the key to credibility"...

You can feel the tempo of it in Julie Jordan Scott's "become engaged".

Thank you all.

YOU have made this, in the spirit of Harry Chapin,

"a better place to be"

Gordon Jay Alexander