A beautiful soul has moved on to his next adventure….
I will probably edit this page, eventually. I received a call, today, from Dave’s son (Simon) that Dave passed away early this morning. Dave had been in an extended care facility for the last few months suffering from dementia. I knew this was coming and yet it still took my breath away. Somehow it was still a gut punch. I met Dave late in life and he was the proverbial “brother from another mother”. Our lives had had such similar trajectories and our outlook’s on life, our senses of humor….everything was just an extraordinary fit. He lightened my load, was kind and funny and giving, and I will think of him for the rest of my days. His talents for music and writing were extraordinary, but, I will remember Dave for his humanity, kindness, and good humor. Rest in joy, love, and laughter my dear friend. I love you.
Guy
From The Flint Journal
Dave Kimber, who co-wrote and recorded “Give a Hoot, Don’t Pollute”, is
shown in his Burton home in this Flint Journal file photo.
(The Flint Journal / Bruce Edwards)Bruce Edwards | The Flint Journal
BURTON, MI — Dave Kimber worked with musicians like David Bowie, Frank Zappa, Stevie Wonder and Elton John, but it was a simple jingle about a cartoon owl that made his most lasting impression — especially for kids growing up in the 1970s.
Kimber, a Los Angeles native and musician who later lived in Burton and taught at Flint’s Neithercut Elementary School, died on Tuesday, Aug. 27, after battles with Parkinson’s disease and dementia, according to his family.
He was 76.
Kimber helped bring the big-eyed Woodsy Owl character to life, arranging the music for “The Ballard of Woodsy Owl” with a writing partner, a song that was used as the foundation of public service announcements from the U.S. Forest Service starting in 1971.
The song’s best-known line, `”Give a hoot, don’t pollute,” is still remembered by many more than 50 years after the character was introduced.
“It was the biggest thing I ever did in music,” Kimber told The Flint Journal in 1999. “A friend of my mom’s was working on (the song), and she asked if I wanted to get involved. I finally said, yeah, I’d help.”
The song was designed to introduce Woodsy Owl as a friend of another U.S. Forest Service character, Smokey the Bear.
Instead of forest fires, Woodsy’s focus was on pollution.
Kimber said songwriter Marion Bartoo had an idea for a melody and some good words, but needed help with the music.
At the time, he was part of a band called Maggie, according to Flint Journal files, and was employed as a songwriter by MGM’s recording division.
“She had written most of it,” he said. “I rewrote it and my partner Bob Pelli and I arranged it. We figured Marion should get the writing credit, and we’d be listed as the arrangers.”
Kimber said he received fan mail — “written in Crayola” — from children who saw the public service announcements but the song’s success didn’t lead to more or better opportunities in the music business.
Kimber and Pelli gave performances on behalf of the U.S. Forest Service, and even performed for Earl Butz, then secretary of agriculture under President Richard M. Nixon, a few months before Butz resigned from his post after telling a racist joke.
He worked for many years at Guitar Center in Hollywood, where he met his future wife, Pamela, after selling her a piano.
The couple married and spent a decade in Australia before returning to the Flint area, where she was from.
In Australia, Kimber worked as a music director for a TV network, wrote commercials, and sold synthesizers, according to his daughter Annadelle Kimber-Smith.
He returned to school and took up a career teaching at Neithercut for 25 years.
“He always loved kids,” Kimber-Smith said. “His humor (was always on display). He just wanted to have fun with the kids.”
As a teacher, Kimber organized pineapple parties for his students, arranging for pineapples to be flown here from Hawaii, and was known for handing out Jolly Rancher candy.
He also helped students improve their performance in school with unconventional teaching methods.
In 2004, 70% of fifth-graders at Neithercut Elementary School passed the Michigan Educational Assessment Program’s social science test — one of the top showings in the area and an improvement of 17 percentage points compared to the previous year.
Flint Journal files say the impressive results came after Kimber recorded “Under the Red White and Blue,” a compact disc of songs with social studies themes, such as the Constitution and democracy that he shared with his students.
“Civics is a hard thing to teach. When I use these songs, it becomes easy,” he said then. “They don’t think they’re learning it, they think they’re singing a song.”
In addition to teaching, Kimber sold pianos at Herter Music on Miller Road in Flint Township, wrote children’s songs, and played with his band, Rodeo Drive, the house band at Sherman’s Lounge in Flint, for several years.
Kimber-Smith said members of the band are expected to be among the friends who will gather for a lunch reception in his honor next month.
A celebration of Kimber’s life is also being planned, she said.
“As a dad, he was just a really fun person to be around … a very California guy,” Kimber-Smith said.
“The world is a brighter place because he was a shining light in it,” Kimber-Smith wrote in a Facebook post. “He didn’t just open doors, he forced himself in, made a scene and became a wonderful memory for all those who knew him…”
I am so very sorry to hear this. Dave and I were classmates at Crescenta Valley High School in La Crescenta, California. Somehow we both ended up working in Flint, Michigan and stayed in touch. May he rest in peace.
So sorry to hear about Dave. We were each other’s first kiss in 9th grade. He was such a good person.