Episode Seven

Hello, and welcome to episode seven of The David Terhune Show. My first guest today is a live video of Bootfoot performing Mrs. Monday and Cairo County. Eleanor Imster and I wrote and played songs together for many years in the 1980's. We were known as Bootfoot and, for a while, The Fraidy Cats. Actually, our first name was Harry-O, because Eleanor thought that if she named the band after her brother, he would come to our show. He didn't make the performance, so the next logical name was Bootfoot. We've been joined by many great musicians over the years (see the credits below), and our percussionist, Patty Lenartz, played tambourine at this reunion performance in Brooklyn on October 21, 2009. This date was also, coincidentally, my 24th anniversary as a civil servant for the City of New York. Staying civil that long is a feat in itself. So please, click and enjoy Bootfoot!

(dum, dum, dum.. waiting for the song to end...) Thank you, Bootfoot! That was great. Ok, now we move to my next guest, an email I sent to New York State Senators last week encouraging them to vote for the Marriage Equality Act. Governor David Paterson had called the Senate into a special session to consider his new budget and the same-sex marriage bill. I concentrated again on the 39 senators who oppose or are undecided on the issue of marriage equality. I hoped a short and sincere email would tip the scales:

Dear Senator,

I am writing to you with the hope that you will be supporting the Marriage Equality Act (S4401). In the past, New York State has proudly held aloft the banner of justice, and this bill is an opportunity to fill a glaring gap in that emblem of equality.

I am confident that your good judgment and sense of fairness will result in the passage of the Marriage Equality Act.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Well, it didn't work. My guest failed to bring the issue to a vote, and the governor is still trying to focus the Senate on this important bill. But it was great to have you on the show, and better luck next time!

Before I go, I just wanted to mention that I had my 100th letter-to-the-editor published in amNY this week. You can view and comment on it at http://dterhune.blogspot.com/2009/11/ho-ho-ho-amny-published-my-100th-letter.html. Thanks for tuning in, and safe drive!

Bootfoot credits (over the years):
Marc Fagelson (bass), Rich Grula (guitar), Eleanor Imster (vocals), Patty Lenartz (percussion), Michael Shelley (guitar), David Terhune (instruments), Kevin Terhune (guitar), Rob Terhune (bass).