Phil Ochs
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Phil Ochs was a 1960s and early-1970s protest folk singer, as popular as anyone of his era. John Kiriakou retells a story told to him by Pete Seeger: Ochs was mugged on a concert tour in Africa and had his throat cut, and though he recovered he could no longer hit high notes, falling into a deep depression. One night, as Seeger was packing up at a Greenwich Village folk club to catch the last train to Beacon, a waitress told him Ochs was on the phone; Seeger said to tell him he would call tomorrow, and left. Ochs died by suicide that night. Seeger's words to Kiriakou, unlike anything he had heard him say: "That selfish bastard. I'll never forgive him for what he did. He had no idea how many people he's hurt."

The unreturned Seeger phone call

John Kiriakou has said on-record, attributing the account directly to Pete Seeger, that Ochs telephoned Seeger from a Greenwich Village folk club on the night of his death; Seeger, hurrying to catch the last train to Beacon, asked the waitress to tell Ochs he would call back tomorrow and left. Ochs, whose voice had been permanently damaged by an African mugging that left him unable to hit high notes and who had fallen into deep depression, killed himself that night. Seeger's uncharacteristic verdict, delivered to Kiriakou years afterwards, is what stuck in Kiriakou's memory: "That selfish bastard. I'll never forgive him for what he did. He had no idea how many people he's hurt."

See also

- Pete Seeger
- John Kiriakou
