Harry
Forster Chapin was an American singer, songwriter, and humanitarian who co-founded
the organization, World Hunger Year. Harry Chapin first wanted to be a documentary
filmmaker, and was nominated for an Academy Award for directing Legendary Champions
in 1968. In 1971 he began focusing on his music, and started out singing in nightclubs
in New York City. Harry Chapin's 1972 debut album was somewhat successful with
the top 100 song, Taxi, but his 1974 song, Cats In The Cradle (with lyrics
written by his wife Sandy), became a number one hit. Throughout the 1970s Harry
Chapin established himself as one of music's best-loved and hardest working storytellers.
Harry Chapin was also a passionate social activist. Of the 200 concerts he usually
performed each year, half were benefit concerts for charities. His most passionate
causes were ending hunger and homelessness, and he co-founded World Hunger Year
in 1975 to help end world hunger. Harry Chapin was largely responsible for President
Jimmy Carter establishing a Presidential Commission on World Hunger in 1977, and
Harry played a key role in heading it. This great Troubadour died in a car accident
in 1981, but the Harry Chapin Foundation continues his legacy of belief that all
of us can make a difference by awarding grants to organizations working to end
world hunger. In 1987, Harry Chapin was posthumously awarded the Congressional
Gold Medal for his humanitarian work.
