Thursday, October 14, 2021
The nation’s oldest park ranger is also a singer-songwriter, and now she has a musical
Datebook: As Betty Reid Soskin listened to recordings of herself singing her own compositions, she kept her legs gingerly crossed, her fingers knit tightly together. But as she mouthed along with the lyrics, recorded decades ago, she tilted her face toward the sky and arched her eyebrows, the way singers do when they’re making an offering or blissfully communing with the muses.
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2 comments:
This is such a touching, heartwarming story. I have never heard of Betty Reid Soskin before, but I am suddenly very interested in her, her life, and her story. She seems like such a kind and gentle soul, and what a title she holds – the oldest park ranger in the United States. In her one hundred years of life, I can only begin to imagine all the experiences she has had, all the things she has done. And to think she captured much of it in song. It is tragic that she suffered a stroke in 2019, but the fact that she can still recall the lyrics of all of her songs is truly incredible. I would absolutely love to watch this musical, because she clearly has quite a story to tell about her life and experiences. The bond that Soskin and Jamie Zimmer share seems like a truly special one, and it makes me so happy that Soskin and Zimmer found each other to be able to bring Soskin’s story to even wider audiences than she already has. It is unfortunate that it is being produced all the way in San Francisco, but if I am ever in an area and hear that the musical will be playing, I would love to take the opportunity to watch it.
I don’t think I have seen a title on this blog before that has made me smile so much. What an amazing article this is! I love the story of how their collaboration came to be and how even though the songs were written years ago they are relevant to today and need to be heard by a modern audience. Some of my favorite stories in the theatre community come from those of unlikely collaborations, and this one is at the top of the list. It really goes to show that it is never too late to start your journey as a theater artist and that even the songs or stories we write that stay in our closest for decades could be beautiful masterpieces that deserve to see the light of day. I find it interesting that she thought her songs were too personal for anyone else, typically the more personal a song is the more others can connect to it.
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