I had a chance to meet Larry's dad up in Omaha, Nebraska. Joe Norman was about as thoughtful and easy to talk to as his son. In one of the conversations I had with Joe, I remember chatting about the Scripture that lists 7 things God hates. He asked me what I thought one of those things was. "Prideful look." He said he thought a prideful look (listed as "haughty eyes" in some translations) was the look that some people (pretty much all of us, I'd think) give when they pass their reflection on the side of a building, car, etc. "I think that's a good example of a prideful look," Joe said. For some reason, that conversation has stayed stuck in my memory.
Another Larry story is one that is so bizarre, I don't think I'd believe it if I wasn't a first-hand witness. I was talking to Larry in a large auditorium after a concert he played in Houston, Texas. This was around 1984 and the band Vision (featuring former members of Lynyrd Skynyrd -- Leon Wilkerson and Billy Powell) opened for him. We were visiting and a lady walked up and told him that his daughter was blind, but she could see when they played Larry's music for her. She asked for an autograph, explaining that it would mean a lot to her daughter. Larry politely apologized: "I'm sorry. I used to live in Hollywood and that whole scene really turned me off to autographs, celebrity-ism and such." This lady had told him that her blind daughter saw when she listened to Larry's music and yet Larry still refused her autograph request. Ha ha ha. That still blows my mind. I think he gave her an album or something, but he didn't budge on the autograph thing.
PS By the way, my friend John Thompson just started a blog ('tis about time!) and his first was a tribute to Larry Norman.
PSS Another Larry story is one that is not my own. A good friend named Charles Gates volunteered to drive Larry from the Chicago Airport to the Cornerstone Festival one year. I'm going to guess that it was 1989 (the last year the fest was up at Grayslake, IL). He carried Larry's suitcase into his hotel room and the over-stuffed case burst open when he tossed it onto the bed. Guess what popped out? The 2-inch master tapes of the legendary Daniel Amos album, Horrendous Disc. Strange tales, indeed...
Posted by Doug Van Pelt at February 28, 2008 01:17 PM