Title Page | Collection Summary | Biographical/Organizational Note | Scope and Content | Arrangement
Biographical Sketches
Harry Chapin
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1942 December 7 | Born Harry Chapin in New York City to notable Jazz drummer and music educator James "Jim" Chapin and Jeanne Elspeth |
| 1958 | Began performing in Greenwich Village with brothers Tom and Steve as The Chapin Brothers |
| 1960 | Enrolled in the Air Force Academy for three months, then Cornell University |
| 1961 | Left Cornell Began working in the film industry at Drew Associates |
| 1963 | Re-enrolled in Cornell |
| 1965 | Left Cornell again Returned to performing folk and rock music with his brothers and his father Chapin moved to Los Angeles to work in the film industry with Cayton Inc. |
| 1967 | Cayton’s documentary boxing film, Legendary Champions, released. It was awarded the New York and Atlanta film festival gold prizes and nominated for an Academy Award for Best Feature Documentary Traveled to Ethiopia with Jim Lipscomb to research a documentary on the World Bank's impact on developing nations Left the film industry Returned to New York City to write a musical, The Night That Made America Famous |
| 1968 | Married Sandra Campbell Gaston (1934-) and moved to Huntington, New York Worked as a free-lance documentary film-maker Produced and directed short films for IBM and Time-Life |
| 1970 | Worked with Jim Lipscomb to create documentary Dual in the Wind and as a freelancer on several other film projects Began writing songs in a narrative form. Brothers Tom and Steve Chapin performed his music Encountered a woman he dated in the past while in New York City to obtain a taxi license – the inspiration for the song "Taxi" |
| 1971 | Returned to songwriting, formed a band to support him in performing his own music, and performed as the opening act for his brothers Signed with Elektra Records |
| 1972 | Released the single "Taxi," which reached no. 24 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart Released albums Heads and Tales and Sniper and Other Love Songs |
| 1973 | Released the album Short Stories |
| 1974 | Released the album Verities and Balderdash, which included the song "Cat's in the Cradle" (with lyrics by Sandra Chapin) "Cat's in the Cradle" went to number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart |
| 1975 | Released the album Portrait Gallery Chapin's recording of "Cat's in the Cradle" nominated for the Grammy for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance Founded non-profit organization World Hunger Year (WHY) with radio personality Bill Ayres |
| 1975 | The Night That Made America Famous opened on Broadway. It was nominated for two Tony Awards and two Drama Desk Awards Met biographer Peter Coan, who proposed to write Chapin’s biography |
| 1977 | Through WHY and the Food Policy Center, lobbied for the formation of a Presidential Commission on World Hunger and was subsequently appointed to the commission by President Jimmy Carter Held benefit concert "Four Together -- Concert for World Hunger" with Gordon Lightfoot, James Taylor, and John Denver in Olympia Stadium in Detroit, Michigan |
| 1981 July 16 | Died at age 38 in a car accident en route to a concert in East Meadow, New York |
| 1987 | Posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for his work to end world hunger |
| 2011 | "Cat's in the Cradle" inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame |
Peter Coan
Peter Morton Coan (1956- ) is an American author who has written for the New York Times, Newsday, Travel and Leisure, and World Tennis magazines. He met Chapin in 1975 after sending a three-page letter requesting to write his biography. Coan traveled with Chapin for seven years, working as his chauffeur and conducting interviews and research. After Chapin's death in 1981, Coan and Chapin's widow, Sandra Chapin, litigated the rights to Chapin's biography. Following the settlement, the biography was published in 1990.