RIchard Klinger sent the following note entitled ‘Reborn as Granpa Rappa’:

I have had long and gratifying careers as a lawyer (Asst. Attorney-General of Montana, enforcing state environmental laws), producer (Jane Fonda Workouts, tv-series, one movie, music), musician (various lounges in NYC, Cafe Carlyle, etc), and equity (panelist on L.A. County Equity Oversight Panel, judges discrimination cases in the County workforce). I never thought I would be a rapper at 83… In fact, I don’t like most rap music. But, shortly after my beloved wife of 48 years died, I began having strange experiences in a pattern. Sometimes (actually not often), after breakfast, I would get have words just coming into my head and a compulsion to write them down (that was strange enough), and when I finished, it was a poem…no second thoughts, no editing, all there. These were sad poems reflecting my sense of loss. As I said, not often, maybe three or four times a year. A couple of months ago, I got that “feeling” again and wrote down the words coming through me. It was poetry, but as I looked at it, I could see that it was a rap lyric. It needed a very little tweaking, and it became, “No Time to Fuss,” my first rap, about climate change. Then, that was followed by, “Wear A Mask.” That will be my next music video. I think I have a knack for this, and nobody could be more surprised than I am. Now I see rap as a good platform for social issues, and the aspect of an 84-year-old white guy doing rap adds a novelty appeal perhaps. I just launched VOTE (my third rap and first music video) on Wednesday and I’ll see if anybody likes it. If it gets even one person who would not have voted to do so, I will have succeeded. I think my former English teacher at ESB, Fred Hutchins, one of the best people I’ve ever known and an extraordinary teacher, would be proud of me.