Bob Sherman, host of the long-running and award-winning radio show “Woody’s Children” in New York City, passed away on June 27, 2023 at the age of 90.

Bob Sherman, host of the long-running radio show, "Woody's Children," has died at age 90.

Bob Sherman, host of the long-running radio show, “Woody’s Children,” has died at age 90.

“He was New York radio’s gentlest soul,” said Chuck Signleton, general manager of WFUV, the Fordham University-based radio station on which Sherman’s influential folk show aired for nearly 24 years. Following the show’s more than 30-year run on WQXR, NYC’s classical music station, Sherman began hosting it on WFUV in the fall of 1999, where it became a cornerstone of the station’s “City Folk” years. He continued to do so until health challenges and the demands of producing a weekly program prompted him to call it quits earlier this year. The final two episodes of “Woody’s Children” aired on Sundays, Jan. 22 and 29. As he wrapped up his show, Sherman said: “It’s been a great run – 54 years! I’ll miss doing the program, but I’m delighted that the spirit of ‘Woody’s Children’ will live on.”

When it wrapped in January, “Woody’s Children” was the longest continuously running folk music radio program in America and among the most influential. It was created and had been hosted by Sherman since its inception in January 1969. “Woody’s Children” began its lengthy run on WQXR, where Sherman also served a long stint as program director and later as senior consultant – having begun his career there as a clerk-typist nearly 70 years ago and become its director of recorded music and music director before ever going on the air. Prior to launching “Woody’s Children,” Sherman had programmed but not hosted another show called “Folk Music of the World.”

Pete Seeger, Sherman’s guest on the very first program, is credited with coining the name “Woody’s Children” out of reverence for Woody Guthrie and the singer-songwriters following in his footsteps. Seeger was a frequent guest on the show, as were Tom Chapin, Judy Collins, Odetta, Tom Paxton, and Peter, Paul and Mary, among others. Sherman also gave early career boosts to such artists as John Gorka and Christine Lavin.

Standing (l.-r.): Doug Mishkin, Pete Seeger, Lydia Adams Davis, Harold Leventhal, Oscar Brand, Tom Paxton, Fred Kellerman, and Joe Heukerott (kneeling) joined Bob Sherman in celebrating Woody's Children's 15th anniversary in 1984 (Photo: Steve J. Sherman)

Standing (l.-r.): Doug Mishkin, Pete Seeger, Lydia Adams Davis, Harold Leventhal, Oscar Brand, Tom Paxton, Fred Kellerman, and Joe Heukerott (kneeling) joined Bob Sherman in celebrating Woody’s Children’s 15th anniversary in 1984 (Photo: Steve J. Sherman)

“Woody’s Children” featured live performances and interviews, along with recorded music, and was often presented in a thematic way. “I try to involve intriguing patterns, and I have thematic concepts,” Sherman once stated. “There’s always a thread, some kind of connection, that leads one song to the next… There’s a continuity, not just a random grouping of songs. The songs have to have import, logic, and something to say.”

Some of Bob Sherman’s favorite folk artists — including David Amram, Tom Chapin and Tom Paxton – helped celebrate the 50th anniversary of “Woody’s Children,” during a nearly sold-out December 7, 2018 concert at the Peter Jay Sharp Theatre at Symphony Space in Manhattan.

Although WQXR dropped “Woody’s Children” 35 years ago, Sherman, whose background was in classical music, continued to host a number of programs at the classical station as well from the 1970s until recently – including the Young Artists Showcase, which he began hosting in 1978 and whose final show aired earlier this month when he announced his retirement. He also hosted television programs (Vibrations and Camera Three) on PBS and CBS during the 1970s.

“Bob Sherman’s interest in both young classical music performers and all folk musicians informed his long-running radio show and were a wonderful service to New Yorkers,” Tom Chapin told AcousticMusicScene.com. Calling him “a remarkably warm and caring person,” Chapin continued, “I shall really miss visiting his ‘Woody’s Children’ radio show and singing him whatever new songs I had in my pocket, as well as the amazing Symphony Space concerts that brought my heroes and compatriots together to celebrate that long-running radio staple.”

John Platt, host of “Sunday Supper” on WFUV, noted: “I used to joke, ‘I wanna be Bob Sherman when I grow up, even though I was only a half-generation younger and already a radio professional for 30 years. It was his lifelong dedication to the music and his ongoing commitment to new artists that inspired me. It was only in the last few months, when his health finally declined, that he stepped back from his shows at WFUV and WQXR. He was as much a treasure within the music community and radio audience as the artists he played… I’ll always cherish our mutual admiration and, as I’ve said, I’ll continue to honor the legacy of ‘Woody’s Children.'”

Bob Sherman @ 90 (Photo: Steve J. Sherman)

Bob Sherman @ 90 (Photo: Steve J. Sherman)

Bob Sherman also taught at the Julliard School of Music for nearly 20 years, was a contributing music critic and columnist for The New York Times for 40 years, is the co-author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Classical Music, and, with musical comedian Victor Borge, co-wrote two books (My Favorite Intermissions and My Favorite Comedies in Music). He and his brother, Alexander Sherman, compiled a pictorial biography of their mother, the noted Lithuanian-born classical pianist Nadia Reisenberg (who also inspired him to take up the piano at a young age, which he later played on several USO tours of Asia). He also was a frequent emcee and a concert narrator for Canadian Brass, The United States Military Academy (West Point) Band, the Greenwich Symphony, and other ensembles; and served on advisory boards for a number of cultural organizations.