John Keller wrote the following in December of 2008, and simply preserves it here.

 Join this growing chorus in regard to figuring out the way to get the idea to President Elect Barack Obama. Let it not end up like the second letter from Miss Grace Bedell of 1864 that was found in the National Archives, undelivered to President Abraham Lincoln.

 

An open letter to President Elect Obama:

 

What takes place and is said on the inaugural podium on January 20, 2009 should be symbolic of our history and our journey together, from our past to our present, with direction of that grandeur to our future, and a reminder that the grandeur has been tarnished, but is still a beacon on the hill. On January 20, 1961, John F. Kennedy chose Robert Frost to recite an original work from the inaugural podium.

 

 I hope that you follow that example, and I would suggest Bob Dylan. Why him? I am reminded of John F. Kennedy’s remarks at the time of bestowing honorary citizenship on Winston Churchill: “In the dark days and darker nights when Britain stood alone -- and most men save Englishmen despaired of England's life -- he mobilized the English language and sent it into battle. The incandescent quality of his words illuminated the courage of his countrymen.”

 

In our time, no other artist has crafted our language like Bob Dylan, and sent it into battle against social injustice, raising our conscience and causing us to reflect on problems and solutions, empowering the downtrodden. On August 28, 1963, in Dr. King’s March on Washington, he stood on the Lincoln Memorial and sang “Only A Pawn In Their Game”, lamenting the death of Medgar Evers and an irrational pairing of politics and prejudice. The English language was all there was that day, and the logic it shed on conditions. There was a dream of Martin Luther King, and the symbolism of a dishonored check. Bob Dylan also sang that day of a day “When the Ship Comes In”-the grandeur of a better day, of change. Peter, Paul and Mary performed Dylan’s social commentary of “Blowin in the Wind” that day. Sam Cooke is said to have written “A Change is Going to Come” after hearing Bob Dylan’s “Blowin in the Wind.”

 

I hope that you ask Bob Dylan to recite some original work from the inaugural podium. He is more than capable of expressing the grandeur of the moment, capturing the mood and hope of our our country and giving direction for our future. His artistic career has symbolized that ability as evidenced by the recognitions below:

 

 

2008    Pulitzer Prize Special Citations and Awards

Winner

2007    Prince of Asturias Awards: The Prince of Asturias Awards (Spanish: Premios Príncipe de Asturias) is a series of annual prizes given in Spain by the Fundación Príncipe de Asturias to individuals, entities, organizations or others from around the world who make notable achievements in the sciences, humanities, or public affairs. The awards are presented in Oviedo, the capital of the Principality of Asturias at a ceremony presided by Felipe, Prince of Asturias.

Winner

2004    Honorary Doctorate of Music

St. Andrews University, Scotland

2002    Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame

Inducted

2000    Academy Award for Best Original Song

Things Have Changed

2000 Golden Globe Award For Best Original Song In Motion Picture

Winner

2000    Polar Music Prize. The Polar is awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Music, with annual award ceremonies held in Stockholm each May. The prize is presented to each laureate by HM Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden.

Winner

1997    Kennedy Center Honors

Winner

 1997 Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize.

Honors

1991    Grammy Lifetime Achievement Awards

Winner

1990    Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres (the highest award given by the French government for achievement in the literature and the arts.)

Honors

1988    Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Inducted

1982    Songwriters Hall of Fame

Inducted

1970    Honorary Doctorate of Music

Princeton University, New Jersey

December 13, 1963, the Tom Paine Award from the Emergency Civil Liberties Committee (ECLC).

This is the man who was slated to make his first nationwide television appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show on May 12, 1963, where he intended on performing "Talkin' John Birch Paranoid Blues," a song decrying the red-hunting paranoia associated with it. During the afternoon rehearsal that day, CBS officials told Dylan they had deemed the song unacceptable for broadcast and wanted him to substitute another. "No; this is what I want to do," Dylan responded. "If I can't play my song, I'd rather not appear on the show." Sullivan supported him. CBS had again bowed to pressure like that which resulted in the firing of John Henry Faulk. Dylan, like Faulk, refused to knuckle under.

During the world wide Live Aid Concert for relief to Africa, he made a plea for the American farmer. Willie Nelson and Neil Young indicated that that plea gave them the idea for the Farm Aid Concerts. Bob Dylan lent his support to the cause by performing at some of these concerts. He has lent his voice to these causes and support for Bangladesh relief and opposition to apartheid in South Africa.

I believe that Norton’s Anthology on American Literature gives as an example of a rhyme and meter scheme his “ Gates of Eden”.

Look at the “Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll”. Nowhere in the song are the principals identified by race. But the listener knows the issue is race.Who better to begin the day of the festivities on Janaury 20, 2009, with your central campaign theme of “change” than the author of “The Times They are A Changin.” Interestingly, Bob Dylan gave a copy of that album to Carl Sandburg, the noted poet and Lincoln biographer. Bob Dylan is “right for the day”, and it would be reflected by his choice to be on the podium that “ Things Have Changed.”

John Keller

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