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July 16, 2008 -- Updated 1231 GMT (2031 HKT)
'Desiderata' vocalist Les Crane dies at 74
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/TV/07/16/deaths.ap/index.html?eref=rss_latest
GREENBRAE, California (AP) -- Les Crane, a talk radio innovator and Grammy winner remembered as the first television host to take on Johnny Carson, has died. He was 74.
Crane died Sunday of natural causes at Marin General Hospital in Greenbrae just north of San Francisco, said his daughter, Caprice Crane.
Born in New York, Crane gained attention as a raconteur in the early 1960s while hosting a talk radio show out of a San Francisco nightclub frequented by hipster comedians like Mort Sahl and Lenny Bruce.
His rapid-fire, opinionated style and sometimes confrontational handling of callers -- unusual at the time -- drew the attention of his radio station's parent company, ABC, which tapped him as a late-night talk show host for its local television affiliate in New York.
Story Highlights
Les Crane had hit with spoken-word presentation of "Desiderata" in 1971
Crane was radio host tapped by ABC to host TV show against Johnny Carson
Casey Kasem credited Crane with helping develop Top 40 countdown
Don't MissText of 'Desiderata'
National Lampoon parody: 'Deteriorata'
In 1964, Crane landed the first U.S. television interview with the Rolling Stones, and months later the network slotted him against Carson, who had started hosting "The Tonight Show" on NBC two years earlier. "The Les Crane Show" lasted only a few months.
Crane's won a best spoken-word Grammy for his 1971 recording of "Desiderata," an inspirational prose poem embraced by the 1960s counterculture. Casey Kasem also credited Crane in a 1990 interview with helping to develop the Top 40 countdown of most popular songs.
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D E S I D E R A T A
-- written by Max Ehrmann in the 1920s --
Not "Found in Old St. Paul's Church"! -- YL Chong, aka Desi, YL, foolOFerrata
Go placidly amid the noise and the haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible, without surrender,
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even to the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons;
they are vexatious to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain or bitter,
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs,
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals,
and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love,
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment,
it is as perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be.
And whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life,
keep peace in your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.
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