They Could Be Anything They Want (Together)
The New York Times
The folk singer Arlo Guthrie and Marti Ladd, who met 20 years ago, forged a long lasting friendship that started over Guinness beer and his grandmother’s cheese blintzes.
Marti Ladd was prone to confusing the troubadour Pete Seeger with the classic rock artist Bob Seger. Her knowledge of Arlo Guthrie was equally fuzzy when he checked into her upstate New York inn in 2001.
“There was a name recognition, but I didn’t know what he looked like, I didn’t have any of his albums or follow his career,” Ms. Ladd said. Two decades later, she agreed to marry the famous stranger who landed on her doorstep, though his proposal came with a warning from him: “You know you’re going to be known as Mrs. Thanksgiving now, right?”
Mr. Guthrie, 74, is the oldest son of the folk singer Woody Guthrie and the creator of “Alice’s Restaurant,” the late-November radio staple and unofficial soundtrack to Thanksgiving. His stay at the Wild Rose Inn, in Woodstock, N.Y., 20 years ago was to help his friend Happy Traum make a film about a fellow musician, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott. Ms. Ladd became a fast friend when she offered him a can of beer. “It was a Guinness, which I love,” he said.
