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    August 30, 2023

    SLD Members Respond to Death Playlist

    Seth Kramer

    A new feature in the current issue of Experience, the Senior Lawyer Division’s quarterly magazine, has sparked interest among our members. To add a little levity to the issue’s theme of Death, we included a playlist of related songs.

    Space dictated that only 10 songs could be included, but of course there are many more. So, we invited readers to email in suggestions for an extended playlist to appear in the monthly Voice of Experience newsletter. And did they ever come through! Here are some of the best responses.

    Sam Nicholson of Augusta, Georgia, contributed several titles: “Honey” by Bobby Goldsboro; “Last Kiss” by J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers; “Leader of the Pack” by The Shangri-Las; “Long Black Veil” by Lefty Frizzell; “Fire and Rain” by James Taylor; “Tears in Heaven” by Eric Clapton and “Live Like You Were Dying”  by Tim McGraw. Sam mentioned that in his youth his father owned a radio station. Musically, he definitely benefited from that.

    Steve Waters of San Antonio, Texas, came up with two interesting songs: “Home” by Gary Puckett and the Union Gap and “Fields of Gold” by Eva Cassidy.

    Thomas Schneck of San Jose, California, suggested the inclusion of two classics: ”Danny Boy” (the Sinéad O’Connor version) and “When I Get to Heaven” by the late—but still irrepressible—John Prine.

    Doug Melon of Finlay, Ohio, provided a short tutorial on the great American songbook with his eclectic choices, including “ My Man’s Gone Now” from the opera Porgy and Bess; “It’s Easy to Remember (and So Hard to Forget)” by Doris Day; and “Goodbye” by Linda Ronstadt with Nelson Riddle and his orchestra.

    Larry Goldstein of Brooklyn, New York, favored “I’ll Be Seeing You,” sung by Queen Latifah during the “In Memoriam” section at the 81st Academy Awards.

    Doug Connah of Baltimore, Maryland, came up with the unique “When I Die, You Better Second Line” by Kermit Ruffin. Doug calls it the New Orleans death song.

    And Trevor Adam from Wales in the United Kingdom weighed in with “Adra” by Gwyneth Glyn, sung mostly in Welsh. He says it’s a song often played at funerals.

    We’ll explore a new theme in the next issue of Experience, and we’ll reach out again for songs to include on an extended playlist in this newsletter.

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    Seth Kramer

    Malibu, CA

    Seth Kramer practiced law in Los Angeles County for 38 years before retiring in 2018. He was certified as a specialist in Family Law by the State Bar of California for more than 30 years. Seth has been president of the Association of Certified Family Law Specialist, chair of the Family Law section of the Los Angeles County Bar, and a member of the executive committee of the Family Law section of the Beverly Hills Bar Association. Seth was an every-other-month columnist on Family Law for the largest legal newspaper in California. He was AV rated by Martindale-Hubbell for more than 20 consecutive years and was selected as a Southern California Super Lawyer from 2010 through 2018. Seth currently lives in Malibu, California.