Angels Die: In Memory of Minnie Riperton

It is just June and already I am thinking about Minnie Riperton. In 1967, after barely getting through high school because of sloth, I moved to San Francisco. I wasn't there to be a hippie, but I was part of the hippie-ish crowd. The really poor part of the hippie-ish crowd. My parents had sent me there to live with my sister and to get a job. I was a poor working kid waxing philosophical about my lot in life. We hippie-ish waxed philosophical a lot. Part of our escape was music. Mine included The Rotary Connection, whose main singer was Minnie Riperton.

I listened to Minnie through my stint in the Navy and the years following. She had that beautiful voice, and I was always pleased to hear something beautiful about her life. "Minnie Riperton from Rotary Connection? Married now? Solo career? New songs and album? Kids now? Good for her!" I was so glad someone I "knew" was having a beautiful life.

Then came the plaintive songs. She was passing, and knew it. So much to live for, so much that she loved, and she had to go. Just thirty-one, and with little kids. On July 12th, 1979, we heard that Minnie had passed. And every year it bugs me, when July 12th rolls around, that I remember that angels die.

My condolences to her loved ones.