Harry Chapin
(1942-1981)

American Singer/Songwriter
Co-Founder, World Hunger Year
1986 Congressional Gold Medal

birthdate: December 7
birthplace:
Manhattan, New York

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.

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