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Tracks from the ’71 Gul record that Bill produced are available in our Music Gallery. |
‘Gentle Giant’ Bill Sweney Dies From COVID-19 – KHOL Jackson Hole Community Radio:
At six feet, eight inches tall, Bill (William) Sweney was “a gentle giant” and “literally larger than life,” friends and family said. They are mourning the life of the Emmy Award-winning producer, longtime airline employee and nature lover.
Sweney, 71, died Wednesday from COVID-19-related complications. He is the seventh person in Wyoming to die from the virus and the first in Teton County. Sweney’s close contacts and colleagues were notified as part of a case investigation and contact tracing, according to Teton County Health Department.
Bill and Rob Farnham exchanged emails about the Survey questions on favorite music, etc. Bill wrote:
My son had pretty much the same [pop culture] questions on his application to Princeton — song, book, movie, poem, etc. Ironically, our answers were/are similar. I guess some of those things span generations. Interesting.
I think because when I was president of WCFM, I was exposed to LOTS of music, and played lots of it when my kids were growing up (including playing a few of my favorite songs on the guitar and singing to them at bedtime when they were toddlers), some of those songs became their favorite songs. My eldest son (Princeton grad) has since given me participation in his Spotify family plan, and regularly recommends various artists to me. I’m pretty much listening to music all the time. I’ve even got a neat set of JBL speakers that stick magnetically to the back of my Motorola phone, called MotoMods. Puts pretty high fidelity in my pocket. My younger son, who recently started a job with SONY PlayStation, also helped me get a wonderful pair of Sony’s best noise cancelling headphones, which make frequent airplane trips bearable — and keep the music playing.
Favorite movie for all of us still seems to be THE SANDLOT. We do disagree on books. I just became a grandfather for the first time on Christmas Eve. I think my daughter’s favorite books have just become IF YOU GIVE A MOOSE A MUFFIN and GOODNIGHT MOON!
For our 25th Reunion, Bill wrote:
When you’ve been in the TV, radio, film, and motion picture business for twenty years, writing “hype” comes pretty naturally. That’s why this is so difficult; the assignment is to write the truth and sometimes the truth hurts. Obviously, to write about one’s self and not go on about work and its various “ephcomplishments” probably denies the existence of two-thirds of the time spent since Williams. But, the great thing about the assignment — and, in fact, the whole notion of 25th Reunions — is the opportunity it gives to reflect, weigh, and think about things — hopefully, before mid-life crisis sets in.
I guess I’m getting old enough that I can’t remember if I posted this memory here. But here it is:
I remember Bill from when I was a classmate at Williams College. He started filming even before he graduated. In 1969 he was filming for Warren Miller’s ski films and happened to be in Tuckerman’s Ravine, the legendary site of late spring skiing in the east where skiing can last into June. I was there with another classmate and his sister. Given the June temperatures, she skied that day in a purple bikini. She also fell a lot. Sliding on the coarse corn snow left purple “road rash” on both of her thighs. Bill saw this, found an old broken ski, had her put it on her shoulder as she walked away from the camera. Warren Miller apparently roared at that bit of footage.