One of my heroes has always been Bruce Utah Phillips. Ever since I first heard "Daddy, What's a Train" I was in love with him. Then, on one of his records there's a story about his encounter with a Mormon in a men's restroom that sealed the deal. I've posted below a eulogy by one of his friends. I will miss his wit, his sense of righteousness, and his humanity. I have to learn, sometime, "Daddy, What's a Train" on the banjo:

By Ken Sanders, a friend.
The golden voice of the great southwest, U. Utah Phillips, will sing
and story tell no more. Bruce Phillips passed away at his Nevada City,
California home, last evening, May 23rd, 2008 from heart failure, at
age 73. After a lifetime spent on the road and speaking and singing out
against injustice wherever he found it, one of America's great
iconoclasts is dead. After a lifetime spent helping others, Utah
Phillips had little of worldly goods left over for himself. Eschewing
monetary wealth his entire life, he made a conscious choice not to seek
out a heart transplant that might have prolonged his life; not simply
because he couldn't afford it and had no health insurance, but in part
because of quality of life issues.

U. Utah Phillips was born in Cleveland, Ohio, May 15th, 1935 during
the great depression and later served his country during the Korean War
in the 1950s, where his political views and anti-establishment stance
were formed. Musically influenced by Woody Guthrie and the emerging
folk protest movements of the 1930s & 40s, he styled his moniker, U.
Utah Phillips, after his musical hero, T. Texas Tyler. He grew up in
Salt Lake City, Utah, and spent many years of his life here and always
had a love/hate affair with his adopted state. It was in Salt Lake
that he met Ammon Hennacy, a Catholic anarchist and fellow wobbly, who
founded the Joe Hill House, which Phillips and Hennacy ran for many
years. A card carrying member of the IWW for most of his life, Utah
Phillips spent his life defending the rights of the working man, the
homeless and the indigent and also had a lifelong passion for trains
and hobos.

Around this time he first met fellow singer songwriter folk singer
Rosalie Sorrels, who was the first to popularize and record songs by
Phillips. Sorrels and Phillips became lifelong friends and performed
dozens of concerts together over the decades. He ran for the U.S.
Senate from Utah in 1968 on the Peace and Freedom Ticket, garnering
over 2,000 votes in a defeat to long term U.S. Senator, Wallace F.
Bennett. father of current long term Utah Republican senator, Robert F.
Bennett. His first recorded album was Good Though, followed by We Have
Fed You For a Thousand Years, and he gained a whole new audience
through his joint album with Ani DiFranco, Fellow Workers. Many other
musicians (Tom Waits, Emmylou Harris, Ian Tyson, Rosalie Sorrels, Ani
DiFranco & many others) have recorded Utah Phillips songs over the
years, including such classics as "Moose Turd Pie," "Rock Salt & Nails,"
"Green Rolling Hills," " Daddy, What's A Train," and "Goodnight-Loving
Train."

For many years Utah Phillips hosted his own radio show in Nevada
City called "Loafer's Glory: The Hobo Jungle of the Mind" and was a
well known community activist there. His story telling abilities were
legendary and any Utah Phillips performance was likely at least three
quarters stories with a few tunes thrown in. He was an ardent student
of history and had a lifelong passion for trains and hoboes His
passing has rent a huge whole in the fabric of the universe which can't
be mended. He will be missed. Rave On Utah Phillips! RAVE ON!
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