Ez Sez: Woody Sez'd First (sort of...)

(Click pic for juicier view)


("Woody Series", c. 2003, NYC, Ezra Soiferman)

I've been asked where the name "Ez Sez" comes from and today I'd like to shed some light on the background of my blog's name.

Legendary American folksinger Woody Guthrie had a newspaper column called Woody Sez back in the day.

Here's a brief description of the column from the California Historical Society:

"In 1939 Guthrie penned a column entitled 'Woody Sez' for the People's Daily World, the West Coast Communist newspaper published in San Francisco. The 'Woody Sez' columns provide evidence that the time Guthrie spent in California during the late 1930s, observing first-hand the harsh conditions experienced by the migrants from the dust bowl, contributed to radicalizing the folksinger."

So you see, I'm not the first by any means to have a column or blog called so-and-so Sez. Never claimed to be. Ez Sez just has a nice ring to it and it's an honour to carry on the 'Sez' tradition that Woody - one of my very favourite writers and singers - employed.

Upon investigation - after I began my early Ez Sez writings in a notepad about a year ago - I discovered that in the early 1930s the poet Ezra Pound had a newspaper column entitled Ez Sez as well.

Plus ca change... plus ca reste pareil.

Keep sezzin' on your end too. No Ezra or Woody will ever own the sole right to speak his or her mind with a catchy column or blog name.

Ez

P.S. To learn what Woody thought about what Love is and how it works, you'll probably want to read his poem "My Secret". Don't say I didn't warn you...