Woody Guthrie's Wardy Forty: The Complete Set
By Phillip Buehler
Designed and edited by Steven Brower
In collaboration with Nora Guthrie and the Woody Guthrie Archives
Through never-before-published letters, historic family photographs, and rare personal interviews, Woody Guthrie's Wardy Forty The Complete Set explores the five years Woody spent at Greystone Park State Hospital in New Jersey. Woody was a patient there from 1956 – 1961, in Ward 40 and called it "Wardy Forty." Through contemporary photographs of the now-abandoned hospital, these years are brought to life and provide a mysterious glimpse into a deserted bygone era.
Woody Guthrie's Wardy Forty: Greystone Park State Hospital Revisited includes:
- Over 70 contemporary color photographs of now-abandoned Greystone Park State Hospital by Phillip Buehler taken with medium format film.
- Over 30 rare family photographs from Nora Guthrie's personal collection.
- Historic, never before seen photographs by world-renowned photographer John Cohen.
- Never-before-published photographs by Guthrie's close friend Bob Gleason.
- Personal letters from Guthrie written at Greystone to his wife, Marjorie and children; Arlo, Joady, and Nora.
- Archival documents and writings from the Woody Guthrie Archives including a scene from an unpublished play Guthrie wrote at Greystone.
- Rare personal interviews with Marjorie Guthrie, Arlo Guthrie, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Harold Leventhal, and Guthrie's doctors at Greystone.
- Handwritten lyric by Bob Dylan Song to Woody" that have never been published.
- Plus: a very special afterword written especially for this project by Alice Wexler, Ph.D, author and founding Board member of the Hereditary Disease Foundation, with a brief history of Huntington's disease and update on recent research and steady progress towards a cure.
Woody Guthrie's Wardy Forty: The Interviews
Many stories were told of Woody Guthrie during the period of his life when he was institutionalized at Greystone Park State Hospital. Not all would fit in the book, Woody Guthrie's Wardy Forty, but each was so fascinating that Nora Guthrie and Phil Buehler thought they should be shared in their entirety in this companion book.
Full interviews with: John Cohen, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Anneke Van Kirk, Vincent "Jim" Longhi, Harold Leventhal, Sidsel Gleason, Dr. Vincenzo Cocilovo, Marjorie Mazia Guthrie, Dr. Michael Hayden, Jeff Carroll, and Arlo Guthrie.
Woody Guthrie's Wardy Forty: Greystone Park State Hospital Revisited ~ Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc. Hardcover. 162 pages. 2013.
Woody Guthrie's Wardy Forty: The Interviews ~ Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc. Paperback. 132 pages. 2013.
