From the archives: Huntington mourns for Harry Chapin

This story was originally published in Newsday on July 18, 1981

This was Harry Chapin’s town, and yesterday the town remembered him – not as a celebrity, but as a neighbor, friend, mentor and philanthropist.

In the stores and restaurants where he was a familiar face, in the houses of friends and fans, they mourned the 38-year-old singer-songwriter who was fatally injured in a fiery car crash Thursday on the Long Island Expressway.

At Chapin’s sprawling Huntington Bay home, close friends arrived throughout the day and gathered downstairs in the kitchen and den. The family – Harry and his wife, Sandy, and their five children – had returned only Monday from a two-week vacation in Hawaii.

In the upstairs bedroom, Chapin’s guitar was propped in one corner and an unfinished song lay on the bureau. His family sat in a circle on the floor – much as they used to do when planning projects to fight world hunger, one of Chapin’s crusades.

Yesterday, they made different plans, for a private funeral service and for public memorials. After a meeting in the afternoon, planning began for a memorial service to be held in the second week of August. The site and date have not yet been determined, said Susan Gensel, a friend of Chapin’s.

Later in August, Chapin’s friends and business associates will organize a memorial concert, Ms. Gensel said. Proceeds will go to a fund that will be set up in Chapin’s memory, she said. No other details have been worked out. Bob Hinkle, vice president of Kragen & Co., an entertainment firm which managed Chapin’s career, said the fund “will be used to try to further Harry’s goals, which were elimination of world hunger and the furtherance in all possible ways of arts in this country.”

Huntington Supervisor Kenneth Butterfield also announced that there will be a memorial concert for Chapin at Heckscher Park Aug. 3.

Chapin died from massive internal bleeding caused by a lacerated aorta, said Dr. Minoru Araki, deputy chief Nassau medical examiner. He said tests revealed no traces of alcohol or drugs in Chapin’s body.

The singer-songwriter died less than an hour after he swerved into the path of a tractor-trailer while driving westbound on the expressway near Exit 40 in Jericho. Eyewitnesses said Chapin had been driving in the left lane at about 15 miles per hour with his emergency lights flashing when he suddenly cut in front of the truck traveling in the center lane.

Nassau Police Officer Donald Weicklein, an auto accident investigator, said yesterday the probe into the accident is continuing. Weicklein, who examined Chapin’s 1975 car yesterday, said it might be too badly smashed and burned to determine why Chapin was driving so slowly.

Along the block of Halesite stores and shops near Chapin’s home, store owners just shook their heads.

“He stopped in here half an hour before he died, and offered to save me a front row seat at his concert last night,” said Philip Purpura, owner of the Harbor Delicatessen. “He walked behind the counter and took his own coffee and custard, just like he always did. That was at 12:10. Twenty minutes later he was dead. I almost fell on the floor when I found out. I just can’t get it out of my head. I wasn’t even a fan; I was a friend.”

Next door, at the Halesite Pharmacy, manager Dave Kersten said he almost cried when he heard the news. But he smiled as he told customers his favorite Chapin anecdotes.

A Town Remembers Chapin As Friend, Neighbor, Mentor

“He was a real down-to-earth person; he was not a snob,” Kersten said. “I remember him telling me about a trip to Las Vegas a few months ago. He said he felt so alone, because his family was not there, and he missed them so much. We will miss him. It is a big ache.”

Chapin’s neighbors on Locust Lane also spoke of his devotion to his family. “He used to play ball with his kids whenever he was around and just hug everyone in sight,” said Homa Bahary, who lives across the street.

Chapin and his wife were frequent customers at Marsh’s Boys and Mens Store, where employees remembered the singer as always being in a rush. “He would come in, pick something out quickly, and he was out the door as fast as he came in,” said salesman Steve Kerman. “Everyone was proud of him, because he was from Huntington.”

At the Sam Goody record store in the Walt Whitman shopping mall, manager Rich Radimer said sales of Chapin’s records and lyrics were up, and the death was a popular conversation subject all day. “It’s like when Lennon died,” Radimer said. “People always start getting interested in someone after he’s dead. It’s pretty terrible.”

A few weeks ago, Chapin went to the Book Review bookstore to buy a new biography of Woodie Guthrie, and owner Bob Klein said Chapin told him the folksinger was almost an idol of his.

“I cried when I read the paper today – and I didn’t even like his music,” said Klein. “He was so active. If everyone did the things he did, the world would be a pretty good place.”

Chapin’s family asked that no flowers be sent in his memory. Instead, they said, donations could be made to a memorial fund.