Present Day Career
In 2000, Havens published They Can't Hide Us Anymore, an autobiography co-written with Steve Davidowitz. Havens has maintained his status as a folk icon, and continues to tour. In 2002, Havens released Wishing Well, followed by the 2004 album, Grace of the Sun.
On October 15, 2006, Havens was inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame.
In 2007, Havens appeared as "Old Man Arvin" in the Todd Haynes film I'm Not There. In a classic front-porch jam scene, he is shown singing the Bob Dylan song "Tombstone Blues" with Marcus Carl Franklin and Tyrone Benskin. Havens's version of the song also appears on the I'm Not There Soundtrack.
Havens was invited to perform at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival Opening Ceremony. He played "Freedom" in tribute to his fan and jury president Sean Penn. He also performed at the London, Ontario Blues Festival in July 2008.
In March 2008, he released a new studio album titled Nobody Left To Crown. The first single release was country-tinged "The Key", which is sold as a single MP3 at Amazon.com.
Richie Havens appears in the acclaimed 2009 film "Soundtrack for a Revolution," which provides a general history of the modern Civil Rights Movement, and has modern artists performing many of the era's musical classics. In that film, Havens does a haunting rendition of the old song, "Will the Circle Be Unbroken."
On May 3, 2009, Havens performed at the fundraising concert in honor of Pete Seeger's 90th birthday. In June 2009, Havens performed at the fifth annual Mountain Jam Festival. The event, hosted by Allman Brothers Band and Gov't Mule guitarist, Warren Haynes, was held at the Hunter Mountain Ski Resort in Hunter, New York. As is tradition, the festival took place on the weekend following Memorial Day. On June 20, 2009, Havens performed at the Clearwater Festival. On July 4, 2009, Havens performed at the Woodstock Tribute festival in Ramsey, New Jersey. On August 8, 2010, Havens performed at Musikfest 2010 at Foy Hall at Moravian College in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
On March 20, 2012, Havens announced on his Facebook page that he will stop touring after 45 years, due to health concerns.
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—Harriet A. Brown, U.S. inventor and educator. As quoted in Feminine Ingenuity, ch. 8, by Anne L. MacDonald (1992)
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