Tom Hunter (14 September 1946 – 20 June 2008,

Bellingham, Washington Bellingham ( ) is the most populous city in, and county seat of Whatcom County in the U.S. state of Washington. It lies south of the U.S.–Canada border in between two major cities of the Pacific Northwest: Vancouver, British Columbia (locat ...

) was an American folk singer best known for his children songs, such as "My Washing Machine Eats Socks", "The Shirt Song" and "There's a Monster in My Closet". His best known song is " Rock Me to Sleep", about a man who is "tired of trying to figure things out, and tired of being so strong". In 1978, Hunter wrote the song "Back to Work in Youngstown", about the closure of the steel mills in

Youngstown, Ohio Youngstown is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio, and the largest city and county seat of Mahoning County, Ohio, Mahoning County. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Youngstown had a city population of 60,068. It is a principal city of ...

, on

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. His songs have been recorded by many artists, including

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album ''Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of ''Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and '' Stardust'' (197 ...

. In addition to being a folksinger, Hunter had a morning radio program in San Francisco, from 1979 to 1984, on

KGO radio KGO (810 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station licensed to San Francisco, California, and owned by Cumulus Media. KGO operates with 50,000 watts, the highest power permitted AM radio stations by the Federal Communications Commission, but uses ...

, called ''God Talk'', and was co-founder and co-director of the Northwest Teachers Conference. Tom Hunter died of

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. Washington State Governor

Christine Gregoire Christine Gregoire (; née O'Grady; born March 24, 1947) is an American politician who served as the 22nd governor of Washington from 2005 to 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, she defeated Republican candidate Dino Rossi in 2004, and again ...

designated 24 October 2008 as "Tom Hunter Day: A Day for Singing." while in 2013 the Massachusetts-based Children's Music Network posthumously awarded Hunter the Magic Penny Award.Margaret Bikman
"Bellingham's Tom Hunter to receive national music award posthumously"
''The Bellingham Herald'', February 21, 2013

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunter, Tom 1946 births 2008 deaths American folk singers People from Bellingham, Washington 20th-century American singers