Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Max Yasgur: The Conservative Republican Who Saved Woodstock
  Society piece by Aaron Goldstein

If one were to mention Woodstock to most conservative Republicans they might react in the way Senator John McCain did during his bid for the White House.  In October 2007, during one of the umpteen GOP debates he criticized then Senator and then Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton for getting an earmark of $1 million for the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts – a museum built on the site of the Woodstock Music and Art Fair.  Senator McCain described Woodstock as “a cultural and pharmaceutical event.“  He lamented not being there as he was “tied up at the time.“  The line earned him a prolonged standing ovation and began to revive what had been a dormant campaign. 

But did McCain know that the man who owned the field where Woodstock took place supported the Vietnam War?  How much do conservative Republicans know about Max Yasgur, the man who leased his land for those three days in August 1969?  His son Sam Yasgur, during a speech at the New York State Court of Appeals last October in Albany, set the scene:

In August of 1969, my 49-year-old conservative, Republican, pro-war businessman father invited tens of thousands of his hippie friends to our farm in the tiny hamlet of Bethel, ninety miles distant from the village of Woodstock.  ( http://www.nycourts.gov/ctapps/ )

Naturally, curiosity got the better of me.  I wanted to know more about Max Yasgur’s Republican leanings and conservative inclinations.  I wanted to know what drew him to conservatism and to the Republican Party.  I wanted to know why he supported the War in Vietnam.  I also wanted to know what he thought about Republicans like Richard Nixon, Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan. 

Unfortunately, Max Yasgur had a long history of heart ailments and would die in 1973 at the age of 53.  So the next best thing would be to talk with his son.  Not only would there be an opportunity to ask about his father’s politics there would be an opportunity to inquire about politics in the Yasgur household.  Was there lively debate at the dinner table or in the living room? 

Alas the younger Yasgur declined my request for an interview for this piece.  Yasgur, who currently serves as the Sullivan County Attorney in upstate New York, told me he was working on a book about his father although he gave no indication when it might be published.  Whenever it is released it is my hope that he will shed more light on those questions. However, it is worth noting the only further elaboration Yasgur provided during his Albany speech was one that left the unmistakable impression he thinks very little of present day conservatives:

In describing my father, I emphasized the word conservative because it had a much different meaning to him than it does to so many people now.  To him, being a conservative meant defending the rights of others to be heard even if they expounded ideas with which he did not agree.  He believed that if he wanted to be heard he had to be willing to listen.  A very rare notion today.

There is a kernel of truth in Yasgur’s argument.  One can make the case there isn’t enough listening to differing points of views in today’s political discourse.  Yet one can also make the case that liberals are just as guilty of this behavior as conservatives if not more so.  Would Yasgur agree with Nancy Pelosi that those who disagree with President Obama’s health care plans are “Astroturf” and “un-American”?  I would be interested in listening to his answer.

In the absence of Sam Yasgur, further illumination would be provided by Michael Lang who was one of the main organizers of Woodstock.  Lang recently co-authored a book with Holly George-Warren titled The Road to Woodstock recounting his experiences with the festival.  If anyone outside of the Yasgur family could tell me about Max Yasgur it would be him.  After all, Woodstock was originally supposed to take place in the town of Wallkill, New York.  But barely a month before the festival was to kick off the town abruptly withdrew its support.  All things considered how could one have three days of peace and music in a town called Wallkill?

Yet Lang and his partners needed to find a new site and fast.  They came upon the land by chance while driving around Bethel after another potential concert site fell through.  A short time later they found out the land was owned by Yasgur and a meeting was quickly arranged with him at his home.  Lang writes, “Without Max Yasgur, there would have been no Woodstock.” 

During an appearance in the Boston area to promote the book last month, I had an opportunity to ask Lang about his personal insights of Yasgur.  Lang described Yasgur as an “unusual guy” who had “his own ideas about the war.”  Yet he praised Yasgur as a “genuine human being” who believed “everybody deserved a chance to prove themselves.”  Indeed, by the third day of Woodstock, not only had the organizers proven themselves to Yasgur but so had the half million people who had gathered on his farm:

I think you people have proven something to the world.  Not to Town of Bethel or Sullivan County or New York State, you’ve proven something to the world.  This is the largest group of people assembled in one place. 

The important thing that you’ve proven to the world is that a half a million kids and I call you kids because I have children that are older than you are.  A half a million young people can get together and have three days of fun and music and nothing but fun and music and I God bless you for it. 
( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ORMb1uwOl8 )

I hope my fellow conservative Republicans will gave Max Yasgur’s words and deeds some thought as the 40th anniversary of Woodstock is celebrated this weekend.

Aaron Goldstein

Posted by Aaron Goldstein on 8/12/09

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