![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thatcrazycajunOh, sweet dear Lord in heaven, no. The founder and director of The Capitol Steps, Bill Strauss, has died of pancreatic cancer at 60 in his McLean, VA home yesterday. (Thanks to darrenzieger for the news.) The Washington Post has his obituary here.
darrenzieger for the news.) The Washington Post has his obituary here.With producer Elaina Newport (she of the waist-length flaxen mane and Carly Simon-like collection of teeth), Bill was the heart and soul of the Steps—a troupe composed entirely of former and current staff of U.S Congress members—which, for the better part of the past three decades, has provided the sine qua non of musical political satire in this country (along with their Buffalo, NY-based colleague Mark Russell). Their parodies of popular songs, rewritten with lyrics about nearly everything going on in and out of politics, have been a staple of The Dr. Demento Show for years; and each year in May like clockwork, Bill produced another of their 27 albums on vinyl, tape and CD (a far better record for promptness and productivity than many of their Capitol Hill bosses could claim). While many talents have come and gone in the group over the years, Bill was the linchpin from day one, way back in 1981 at the annual office Christmas party of former Sen. Charles Percy (R-IL), his then-employer, when he first came up with the idea.
But Wikipedia's page on Bill reveals he was so much more than just one of the ringleaders of the Steps: an author, historian, playwright and lecturer as well as a comedian and theater director. Even I had no idea—and I've been a Steps fan since college, which is to say most of my adult life. I am shamed it took his death for me to learn what else he had done.
The Steps will continue, of course; in these parlous political times, their humor is needed more than ever, on both sides of the aisle. And the year-end edition of their quarterly National Public Radio holiday specials, featuring their latest and greatest compositions, will no doubt air as scheduled; I have trouble believing Bill would want it any other way. But without him to lend his ever-present smirk and perform his trademark routine, "Lirty Dies" —a spooneristic recitation of the year's events—something important will be gone. I am glad I did get to meet Bill and Elaina in person on one of their many road-show stops, as well as having seen them in their original pol-stomping grounds, the now-defunct Chelsea's of Georgetown, before their move down the road to the Ronald Reagan International Trade Center.
A memorial page for Bill has gone up on the Steps' website here...with a request that donations be made in his memory to the Cappies, a critique/award program for high-school theater and journalism which he also helped found, in lieu of flowers and such. I find it an excellent idea and a fitting tribute to Bill, who was all about what Kathy Mar calls "tending the garden." My heart goes out to Bill's wife, kids and grandkids, relatives and friends, as well as to Elaina and all the Steps, as both groups have lost their paterfamilias. So long, Bill...and for all your years of making us laugh, yank thou mery vuch.
But Wikipedia's page on Bill reveals he was so much more than just one of the ringleaders of the Steps: an author, historian, playwright and lecturer as well as a comedian and theater director. Even I had no idea—and I've been a Steps fan since college, which is to say most of my adult life. I am shamed it took his death for me to learn what else he had done.
The Steps will continue, of course; in these parlous political times, their humor is needed more than ever, on both sides of the aisle. And the year-end edition of their quarterly National Public Radio holiday specials, featuring their latest and greatest compositions, will no doubt air as scheduled; I have trouble believing Bill would want it any other way. But without him to lend his ever-present smirk and perform his trademark routine, "Lirty Dies" —a spooneristic recitation of the year's events—something important will be gone. I am glad I did get to meet Bill and Elaina in person on one of their many road-show stops, as well as having seen them in their original pol-stomping grounds, the now-defunct Chelsea's of Georgetown, before their move down the road to the Ronald Reagan International Trade Center.
A memorial page for Bill has gone up on the Steps' website here...with a request that donations be made in his memory to the Cappies, a critique/award program for high-school theater and journalism which he also helped found, in lieu of flowers and such. I find it an excellent idea and a fitting tribute to Bill, who was all about what Kathy Mar calls "tending the garden." My heart goes out to Bill's wife, kids and grandkids, relatives and friends, as well as to Elaina and all the Steps, as both groups have lost their paterfamilias. So long, Bill...and for all your years of making us laugh, yank thou mery vuch.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2007-12-19 07:51 pm (UTC)Shit shit shit.
no subject
Date: 2007-12-19 08:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-12-20 10:53 am (UTC)Was this sudden? Wolf and I saw them perform in Worcester last winter and he didn't seem ill...
no subject
Date: 2007-12-20 02:02 pm (UTC)