Sam Baker

 About 15 years ago, I stumbled upon a songwriter named Sam Baker who had released an album called "Cotton."  I liked almost every song, not because he was a great singer or a great musician but because he was a great songwriter/wordsmith.

One of the good things about A.I. is that I can use it as a starting point to find out about subjects that I've lost track of over the years.  As I dug in deeper, I learned that Sam's story was much more interesting than I knew.  

From Wikipedia:  "In 1986, Baker was traveling by train to Machu Picchu in Peru when a bomb placed on a luggage rack above his head by the Shining Path guerrilla group exploded, killing seven other passengers including the three people who had been sitting with him. Baker was left with numerous injuries, including brain damage, a cut artery, and blown-in eardrums. His injuries required 17 reconstructive surgeries. He has a constant case of tinnitus and the fingers of his left hand were left gnarled. He did retain enough dexterity to grasp a guitar pick and over time, re-taught himself to play his guitar left-handed."

My favorite song on his "Cotton" album was "Mennonite."  Sam doesn't have much of a recent YouTube presence, but that song is on his channel.

It turns out he's released more albums for me to dive into since "Cotton.  His Youtube channel "Sam Baker" led me to the discovery that he's also an artist.  This is primarily a note to myself not to forget songwriters like Sam or lives like Sam's for that matter.  He talks about planting seeds of kindness in his interviews.  How someone planted seeds that helped lead him out of the darkness that he encountered in Peru.  These are things that give me hope in our current times.