How Neil Young's mom gave me his phone number -- and helped launch my writing career

John Einarson's Thank-you Gift from Neil Young
This article goes back to Neil Young's birthday last month, but better late than never for a good story.

Longtime fan and author John Einarson has a nice tribute to Neil Young for his birthday but also a rather remarkable tale about how his writing career was launched by a call to Neil's mom which eventually led him to Broken Arrow ranch.

I owe my writing career in part to Neil Young. Back in 1986 when I was researching Shakin' All Over, a book on the exciting 1960s Winnipeg music scene, I was introduced by a mutual friend to Neil's irrepressible mother Edna "Rassy" Young. Rassy was in Winnipeg for a holiday, having driven on her own all the way from Florida where she had lived since the latter '60s. She and I met at the Tuxedo Salisbury House for what turned out to be an engaging two-hour conversation about her famous son and his time in Winnipeg. Rassy was delightfully irreverent as she described her unwavering support back then for her "Neiler" and pulled no punches in dissing her ex-husband Scott's biography, Neil and Me. "It's all daddy this and daddy that," she groused. At the end of our get-together, she said to me, "You should talk to Neil. Here's his home number. Give him a call."

Check the rest of John's story involving Broken Arrow ranch and a gift from the man himself as a way of saying thanks.

Long may you run - Winnipeg Free Press

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