Steve Goodman?

Heh, ’77 is the year I graduated High School.

Yes indeed it is Steve Goodman, the man who wrote “City of New Orleans,” the Arlo Guthrie standard and one of my all-time favorite songs. Steve was a Jewish boy from suburban Chicago who discovered he had leukemia as a teenager. He fought the disease for as long as he could and died at the age of 36 I think. He was a lifelong Cubs fan, and wrote and performed songs detailing his love for the hapless Cubs. He was born after the Cubs had won their last pennant in 1945, and died in 1984, just days before the Cubs won their first pennant since 1945. It’s quite sad, really. His ashes are buried under home plate at Wrigley Field.

How a Jewish boy from Chicago came to write such enduring Americana standards is one of the great mysteries and strengths of America. He loved America, loved baseball and loved the simple things of life. It is because of people like Steve Goodman that the phrase “only the good die young” has such resonance.