Re: Nick Kelly's web site/St Pat's
Bobby - Did not mean to be coy, but here goes - Shortly after Tom Clancy's death, I was in New York City for a business meeting and wandered into St Pat's, as any good Irish Catholic boy from the Bronx is wont to do. It was obvious that they were getting ready for some sort of ceremony. When I inquired of the Head Usher, he replied in a thick NY-Irish brogue " We're having a memorial Mass for Tommy Clancy". I decided to stay for it. Several mental snapshots remain with me - During the course of his eulogy, the priest celebrating the Mass remarked that "...in concert, Tom Clancy sang each song as if he were singing it for the first time" - remarking about the enthusiasm that he brought to each performance ( an attribute regarding your performances that I have written about); at communion time, I passed directly in front of Liam Clancy, who was kneeling in the front row - he looked up, there was recognition in his eyes when he saw me (maybe from the old days in the Village or back stage at innumerable concerts) and I said that "he(Tom) had given us some grand times" - grabbed my arm hard with his two hands and replied as only Liam can "he certainly did". There was an all-star congregation from the folk and theatre world in attendance, as well as the Mayor, et al - I remember Pete Seeger a couple of rows behind me. At the conclusion of the Mass, the altar was cleared, everyone stood, and from behind the elevated altar came the strains of a lone piper playing "Amazing Grace". The piper, a large, imposing member of the New York Police Pipers, in kilt, cardigan and heavy brogans, slowly mounted the rear steps, paced across the altar, down the front steps and down the long aisle of St Patrick's. The audience grasped hands and started singing, quietly at firstand then in celebration of one who had touched our lives with his art. Having been caught up in the ceremony, I never noticed who had slipped into the pew next to me, took my hand and joined in the singing until I heard the voice -it was Judy Collins - quite a moment. Sorry if I rambled on too long, maybe you had to be there, but it was a time when art and life were one.
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