Posted on 04/26/2021 9:13:54 PM PDT by FLNittany
FWIW When Deutschendorf died intestate, his first wife, Annie, was made executor. Calif. law makes song copyrights during the marriage community property so I think she gets the rights to this one and the other early big hits. Please correct me, but if so then she gets the last laugh. The 19 million was divided amongst the three children, the two adopted by him and Annie and his daughter by Cassandra. There was a trust in addition for each of the children and Annie but not for Cass because of their acrimonious divorce. Annie never showed a hint of anger or bitterness. The kids honor their father. Jesse Belle D. got married, seems quite happy.
Two more delicious facts. Denver had bought land in Colorado for a wildlife preserve and open space, but because there was no will, that land was sold. The IRS overvalued his estate and later was forced to refund an overtax to the tune of $600,000.
I was able to attend one concert in the 1990s. So glad I did.
I have all his albums. Have many piano books of his music.
I believe John ran out of fuel and reached back to turn on the spare tank ( design flaw having the switch there) and the experimental craft dove into the water.
He died on my birthday. I will never forget that. 😕
He was still such a great singer....such a shame he died so young, and with a young daughter.
I still have a magazine and newspaper clippings from when he died.
Agree. I liked it so much I learned to play it on the piano.
Just the other day I learned that the song was written by a man who lost his son Daniel in WWI.
Yes. It’s a profoundly sad song if one listens to the lyrics and not just the familiar melody.
The Long EZ is a good design. It is one of the most fuel efficient airplane designs out there. John Denver did not build the Long EZ he was flying, he bought it from a man who had built it, but this man made a design change that deviated from the standard design.
In the standard design, the reserve fuel valve is located between the knees and is easily reachable, but in the plane John Denver bought, the man who built it didn't like the idea of a fuel line entering the cockpit, and so he changed the normal design to locate the reserve fuel valve behind him. The man who built it had long arms and could easily reach it, but John Denver did not and could not.
To make matters worse, John Denver had clamped a pair of vise grips on the valve stem to use as a handle to turn the valve, and they popped off while he was trying to turn the valve.
John Denver's death was the consequence of a series of events, not the least of which was his own carelessness.
It was not the consequence of the Burt Rutan designed aircraft being inherently dangerous. The Long EZ is safer than a lot of other aircraft designs because it cannot stall.
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