Root Boy Slim

Root Boy Slim (July 9, 1944 - June 8, 1993) was the stage name assumed by American musician, Foster MacKenzie III. Born in Asheville, North Carolina, he was raised in suburban Maryland, a few minutes from D.C. after his family relocated there. An exceptionally bright child, with parents able to afford a series of costly prep schools (including Sidwell Friends School), upon graduation, MacKenzie attended Yale University on a scholarship, but returned to Maryland upon receiving his Bachelor's degree. Once back in Maryland, he formed his own alternative rock band, including some young but talented musicians including tenor saxophonist, Ron Holloway, and an ensemble titled Crying Out Loud. Mackenzie's act was from that time billed as Root Boy Slim and the Sex Change Band, and found a dedicated fan base, although it remained confined to the Washington, D.C. area.

MacKenzie died in his sleep in his home in Orlando, Florida at the age of 48, and is buried in Fletcher, North Carolina. He was inducted into the Washington Area Music Association Hall of Fame in 2004.

Famous quotes containing the words root, boy and/or slim:

“Not marble nor the gilded monuments
Of princes shall outlive this powerful rime;
But you shall shine more bright in these contents
Than unswept stone, besmeared with sluttish time.
When wasteful war shall statues overturn,
And broils root out the work of masonry,
Nor Mars his sword nor war’s quick fire shall burn
The living record of your memory.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)

“Am I not father, too, and the ascending boy,
The boy of woman and the wanton starer
Marking the flesh and summer in the bay?”
—Dylan Thomas (1914–1953)

“Photographs may be more memorable than moving images because they are a neat slice of time, not a flow. Television is a stream of underselected images, each of which cancels its predecessor. Each still photograph is a privileged moment, turned into a slim object that one can keep and look at again.”
—Susan Sontag (b. 1933)