R.I.P. Jim Hinde

From the PI:

For 18 years, Jim Hinde's folk songs provided a musical background for Pike Place Market's cacophony of fishmongers and vegetable sellers. His anti-war and protest ballads carrying more meaning and passion than ever as he watched sadly as a new generation went off to fight.

Hinde, the Market's bushy-bearded busker, died in his sleep Monday. He was 56.

Hinde recently produced a CD, "Shout Down the Wind," and won a Northwest Regional Emmy Award for the PBS documentary "Pike Place Market: Soul of a City," which he co-wrote and hosted.

A memorial service will be held July 2 at the Market's Desimone Bridge from 7 to 9 p.m.

We're lucky to work near the market. We've spent many a lunch break down there, sitting in the sun, or walking past the same market stalls we've seen a hundred times. We buy a coffee or some fresh fruit, or flowers for the people we love.

But the thing we love most about the market is the music. The buskers of Pike Place Market are the voice and the soul of that place.

Jim Hinde was one of the greatest.

You can buy Jim Hinde's album, Shout Down the Wind: Songs of Peace, Protest, and Patriotism, at CD Baby.

Photo by John Cornicello