And Sometimes Writers Can Touch

We need silence to be able to touch souls.
Mother Teresa

On Friday, January 13 of this year, 2006, Panamanian folk music suffered a heartrending loss when Ñato Califa and ten members of his band died in a traffic accident. I was so touched by the radio coverage of this tragedy that I was moved to write the piece titled “Honoring the Lost Songs,” which appeared in the February 5 edition of The Panama News.

I received several letters in response. One was from Argelis Wesley-Spruill, a Panamanian who now resides in Virginia, asking for permission to reprint the article in an upcoming issue of the newsletter of The Panamanian Folkloric Group of Hampton Roads. I was happy to comply.

And the letter that most moved me was the following:

Dear Mr. Sirias,

I found myself fascinated with your opinion piece, as I am one of those charged with making available Woody Guthrie's recordings, a few of Bob Dylan's earliest and those of the thousands of non-iconic names which constitute the folk legacy from all over the world the Smithsonian Institution now stewards.

Thank you for airing your thoughts about the topic.

Sincerely yours,

D. A. Sonneborn, Ph.D.
Assistant Director
Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage
Smithsonian Institution
Washington DC
Websites: www.folkways.si.edu
www.smithsonianglobalsound.org