Highly influential Canadian folksinger-songwriter Stan Rogers died 25 years ago, June 2, 1983, in an airplane fire while en route home after performing at the Kerrville Folk Festival in the Texas Hill Country.  On Sunday, June 1, in recognition of this sad anniversary, WFDU-FM in Teaneck, New Jersey will rebroadcast “Remembering Stan Rogers,” a radio documentary that Ron Olesko, host of its long-running “Traditions” program, produced in 2003.

The three-hour music-filled documentary, airing from 3 to 6 p.m. ET at 89.1 FM in the New York City area and online at www.wfdu.fm, takes a look at Stan Rogers’ life and music.  It features, as Olesko puts it, “full songs, not just snippets,” interspersed with commentary from Rogers’ family and friends (including producer & musician Paul Mills and musician Grit Laskin), and from Rogers himself. 

In “Remembering Stan Rogers,” you’ll hear his rich and earthy baritone voice and his well-crafted, traditional-sounding songs — many of which have been much covered by others since his untimely passing.  A Celtic feel was noticeable in some of his songs, while others,  like “The Mary Ellen Carter" and “Barrett’s Privateers,” had maritime themes and were performed in the style of sea shanties.  They are part of a rich legacy that today extends around the world.  As Rogers’ widow, Ariel, wrote in the publisher’s notes for the album Stan Rogers: from coffee house to concert hall (Fogarty’s Cove Music): “This is a man who wrote in the wee small hours, combing the beaches of his imagination for the treasures he left with us.”

According to Olesko, the documentary includes excerpts from two programs that Rogers recorded at the radio station’s studios in 1982, the year before his tragic death at age 33.