Herb Benham: Now it's our turn

Aug. 23—Nanci Griffith died a few days ago. Maybe you'd heard of her. Maybe not.

She was a 68-year-old country/folk/Americana singer from Austin, Texas. Not only could she sing like an angel but spent much of her professional life calling attention to other musicians. When she wasn't talking about them, she was playing with John Prine, Hootie & the Blowfish, Arlo Guthrie, Frank Christian, Bob Dylan, John Prine, Iris DeMent, Chet Atkins, Ian Tyson, Guy Clark, Lucinda Williams, Richard Thompson, Jimmy Dale Gilmore, Rodney Crowell and Odetta.

Griffith raised other people up and, like Emmylou Harris, she could sing alone but was even better when she had a chance to join voices with somebody else. Griffith didn't sing above them but with them, behind them and alongside them. A good duet can make you feel the presence of a higher power in music. You hear this transcendence in "Streets of Baltimore," the song she sings (especially the chorus) with John Prine.

----The day after Griffith died, we listened to her album "Other Voices Too," on the way home from San Diego. Griffith reminded me of the book "Miss Rumphius." When Miss Rumphius was a small child, she told her grandfather that she wanted to travel the world and come home and live by the sea.

"There is a third thing you must do," her grandfather said. "You must do something to make the world more beautiful."

Griffith did that and it's now up to the rest of us to make the world a more delightful place in which to live. We just have to find out what that might be.

----Elden Miller responded to the column about my cousin's son finding happiness online with an English woman 6,000 miles away. They've only talked, hadn't met in person yet and have been getting to know each other slowly in an old-fashioned sort of way.

"As someone who was single for over 20 years in the 'Internet era,'" Miller wrote, "I can vouch for the value of online dating. It's an excellent way to meet people when you are past the age of the club scene.

"You can meet people who have things in common with you, you have time to communicate with them in a safe environment and decide if they are right for you or not. That's only the first half because you have to meet them to see if there is any real chemistry. This is how I met my wife, Maripat, who I would have most likely not have met if not for online dating.

"I recommend it for anyone who is lonely and looking for companionship. You have to be courageous and not afraid of failure though. I met my wife after meeting 15-20 other women with whom I wasn't compatible. It's a gamble, but well worth it!"

----I hadn't realized that the late Chuck Wall carried the Olympic torch until Darlene Stewart called. Wall, who was blind, carried the torch in Lompoc for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Utah. After he was chosen, Wall had a rope that wound around his backyard that both guided him and helped him get in better shape.

Wall said, "If I'm going to carry the Olympic torch, I'm not going to walk, I'm going to run."

----Although the temperature has ramped up again, how great was it to have those cooler days late last week when we were in the 70s again? You could go outside and walk down the street without feeling as if you were under siege. Cool weather gives you hope.

----Drink of the week. Maybe it's being deep in the summer, or because I had a tooth removed and pineapple juice seemed like just the thing for a sore mouth, but I have rediscovered pineapple juice. Even better, pour some dark rum in it like Zaya, and then, if you want to get festive, a couple of ounces of white rum, chunks of pineapple and crushed ice. I couldn't find coconut cream, which would make it a pina colada.

Lord, is it refreshing. I might not drink it again all year, but in August, it seems like just the thing.

Herb Benham is a columnist for The Bakersfield Californian and can be reached at hbenham@bakersfield.com or 661-395-7279.