From the current issue of the New Yorker (http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/10/06/rolling-ranger)

Rolling Ranger
By John Seabrook

Among the movers and shakers who met in New York last week to talk about climate change was Chuck Leavell, a slight, soft-spoken sixty-two-year-old piano player from Georgia. Though better known for the moving and shaking he does onstage—since 1982, he has been the Rolling Stones’ main keyboardist—Leavell has become an influential voice on an array of reforestation issues around the world. Heads of state have yet to find much common ground when it comes to climate change, but they appear to agree about the Rolling Stones. Presidents, senators, and high-ranking ministers all happily engage with Leavell about Stones songs, and when he smoothly changes the subject to wind farms, or biomass in Brazil, they listen.

Leavell was attending the U.N. Summit as a member of the Global Restoration Council, a new entity backed by the World Resources Institute. Another member is Bianca Jagger, and on the eve of the summit they met with a few other environmentalists at the Mandarin Hotel. One visitor ventured, “You two must have some friends in common in the Rolling Stones,” which drew an icy stare from Jagger, her eyebrows cocked like drawn bows. (She and her ex have not remained close.)

“Acquaintances,” Leavell proposed.

Leavell’s interest in the world’s trees began when he and his wife, Rose Lane, inherited an eleven-hundred-acre farm in Georgia, in 1981. Chuck took a forestry-management correspondence course while he was on a Fabulous Thunderbirds tour, and started planting trees. Years of managing his own land as a mixed-use forest that is a hunting preserve and a tree farm has made him aware of the economic and environmental benefits of planting trees. He is one of only three people in the U.S. to be made an honorary forest ranger. (The other two are Betty White and Arnold Schwarzenegger.) “One of my proudest possessions is an original forest-ranger hat,” he said. “Like my man Pharrell wears.”

Did Leavell talk to the other Stones about trees?

“At first, there was a lot of head-scratching—‘What’s he going on about the trees again for? What’s that all about?’ ”—he said. “But, you know, they understand my commitment to these issues, and the fact is we’re all parents and grandparents, we’re concerned about our children and grandchildren’s future, and we all have hopes we can make positive changes in those regards.”

From the Mandarin, Leavell and his wife walked up Broadway to the reception for the Equator Prize awards, which was held in the soaring atrium of Avery Fisher Hall. There Leavell became involved in a discussion with several State Department officials about upcoming Stones dates in Australia, next month, and soon moved on to the deforestation of palm trees in Indonesia by palm-oil producers. Among the group was Charles Barber, who, until recently, was the Forest Chief at the State Department and now works for the World Resources Institute.

“People listen to Chuck,” Barber said. “He knows how to tell the story, without getting into the weeds on issues like the price of softwood lumber.” He added, “A lot of actors don’t want to talk about their acting experiences; they want to talk about the issues. But Chuck loves to talk about the music.”

The conversation kept drifting back to the Stones. Couldn’t Chuck get the band to represent the issues onstage, somehow?

“You mean, like, Mick goes, ‘I’m a tree, I’m a tree.’ ?” Leavell expertly mimed Jagger’s frantic rooster strut, imitating a tree.

“Keith would just be, like, ‘Plant a @#$%&’ tree.’ ”

Leavell has met three Presidents—Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush—but before the summit he had never met Barack Obama. “He could be more of an R. & B. guy,” Leavell said at Lincoln Center.

The following night, after dinner at the Waldorf, they did meet.

Leavell said, “Mr. President, wonderful to meet you. I play with the Stones!”

“What?”

“I play piano with the Rolling Stones.”

The President replied, “You must be, like, the youngest guy in the group!”

Drew



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2014-10-03 04:54 by drewmaster.

Quote
drewmaster
Leavell said, “Mr. President, wonderful to meet you. I play with the Stones!”

“What?”

“I play piano with the Rolling Stones.”

The President replied, “You must be, like, the youngest guy in the group!”

Drew

Nice quip...you have to hand it to Barack!

Leavell said, “Mr. President, wonderful to meet you. I play for the Stones!”

“What?”

“I play piano for the Rolling Stones.”

The President replied, “You must be, like, the youngest sideman hired by the group!”

---------

There, fixed it. Amazing that a publication with the stature of the New Yorker would let such an editorial lapse slip through.

chuck should get the humanitarian of the century award !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Quote
stonehearted
Leavell said, “Mr. President, wonderful to meet you. I play for the Stones!”

“What?”

“I play piano for the Rolling Stones.”

The President replied, “You must be, like, the youngest sideman hired by the group!”

---------

There, fixed it. Amazing that a publication with the stature of the New Yorker would let such an editorial lapse slip through.

>< +1

Quote
RoughJusticeOnYa

Quote
stonehearted
Leavell said, “Mr. President, wonderful to meet you. I play for the Stones!”

“What?”

“I play piano for the Rolling Stones.”

The President replied, “You must be, like, the youngest sideman hired by the group!”

---------

There, fixed it. Amazing that a publication with the stature of the New Yorker would let such an editorial lapse slip through.

>< +1

so then should i cancell my subscription ?

The interview was done by John Seabrook. Makes me think about Joe; one of the good guys from the old days..

Oh TheGreek...what are we to do with The New Yorker?

I have faithfully subscribed since I was in high school. Where is Dorothy Parker when we need her?

Odd isn't it?,,that Chuck was there for conservation purposes but his words to the president were "I play with the Stones.."

As they say down South "that boy is just getting beyond his raising'"

I missed this one.

The New Yorker!

My father is a subscriber since ages, so I have been reading it for ages too.

I've always been attracted by its aura of "cultural" must.

Now, age 46, I can confess that 99% of the articles bored me to tears, I hardly ever agreed with a review and, above all, not once a cartoon made me lough.

Go, Chuck, go!

C

this is a worthy topic.... if we dont have any environment, we dont have any rock and roll.. keep on the good work, Chuck. 6853 Iceland.