Cup o' Joe

Food, travel, and news on the Chesapeake Bay

I never met Tom Wisner, the “Bard of the Chesapeake Bay.” But I’ve listened to his music. And read his musings about the birds, fish, and beauty of the Chesapeake. He passed away on April 2 after a battle with lung cancer. He was 79.

The last I read about Tom was an article in the Washington Post a year ago that said he had lost the ability to play guitar due to his chemotherapy treatments. He had also lost his trademark white beard, which he later grew back.

Tom may have been a labeled a “bard” but he led the life of a monk—a monk who worshiped the Chesapeake. He was perpetually poor, and seemingly had no desire for things money could buy.

He chose his work over his wife and the couple “decided it would be best for him not to be a prominent fixture in the lives of their five children,” as the Post article stated. (Tragically, one of his daughters was killed in 1979.)

So instead of being a father figure to his own children, he took his guitar and sang to the schoolchildren of Southern Maryland, where he was a fixture at elementary schools and local festivals. In the 1980s, he sang every Wednesday morning at Hollywood Elementary School and used the children’s voices in his CDs.

Last year, Calvert County Del. Sue Kullen (D) proposed a bill to make his “The Land Maryland” the state’s official children’s song. But the song bill died in committee. It’s likely too late for the General Assembly to try again, but it sure would be an appropriate tribute to the memory of a bard who thought of the Bay as not just something to be saved but as a muse.

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Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 04/06/10 at 10:57 AM

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