Ted Williams, the homeless, golden-voiced man: Heartwarming tale of the day
(Screengrab from YouTube/Columbus Dispatch)
When The Post's Gene Weingarten, on a whim, asked a world famous musician to play the violin to passersby in the D.C. Metro, odds were on people stopping in their tracks when they heard the sublime musical experience most people would have to pay at least $100 a seat to witness.
But when Joshua Bell entered L'Enfant Plaza on a morning in 2007 and struck up his $3.5 million Stradivari violin, almost no one noticed.
Weingarten wrote:
If we can't take the time out of our lives to stay a moment and listen to one of the best musicians on Earth play some of the best music ever written; if the surge of modern life so overpowers us that we are deaf and blind to something like that -- then what else are we missing?
It seems a lot, but the Internet is helping to change that, at least for one man.
Last week, Ted Williams, a recovering drug addict and a homeless man, stood on the side of the road with a sign offering up his "golden voice." Two days ago, a reporter at the Columbus Dispatch filmed the man and uploaded a video about him onto YouTube. Today, the video has gone viral and job offers are pouring in for Williams. It's being reported by the Associated Press he'll likely wind up working with the Cleveland Cavaliers. But he's also got plenty of other offers to mull over:
NFL Films is looking to contact the homeless voice Ted Williams for a potential job offer (via @NFLprguy)
darren rovell
darrenrovell
Read the full story of Ted Williams at the Columbus Dispatch here.
Here's his visit to the CBS Early Show:
By
Melissa Bell
| January 5, 2011; 10:45 AM ET
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Teddy Ballgame looks pretty good considering he died 8 years ago...
Posted by: ozpunk | January 5, 2011 1:03 PM | Report abuse
For 2011... a random act of kindness for everyone.... the world would change.
Posted by: pdv1 | January 5, 2011 1:19 PM | Report abuse
"Teddy Ballgame looks pretty good considering he died 8 years ago..."
My thoughts exactly.
Is his head still frozen somewhere in Arizona?
Posted by: summerandwinter | January 5, 2011 1:32 PM | Report abuse
Please stop citing that awful Weingarten experiment -- it was completely set up to fail so that he'd have something to write about.
8AM at L'Enfant Plaza, center of the hardcore federal bureaucracy, where people are written up for being late to their desks? Of course no one would stop, and Weingarten knew that.
Had he staged it at 6pm at say DuPont Circle, Bell would've been thronged.
Posted by: Georgetwoner | January 5, 2011 2:06 PM | Report abuse
Which raises the idea the next time you look at a homeless man, don’t be surprised if he or she turns out to be an ex astrophysicist or derivatives trader, although something tells us the average person probably has more sympathy for someone who’s voice can make you melt in the snow. Not that sympathy ever mattered in America…
http://scallywagandvagabond.com/2011/01/is-ted-williams-a-homeless-bum-the-new-radio-voice-of-america/
Posted by: zoezoe123 | January 5, 2011 2:19 PM | Report abuse
@Georgetwoner Really?! I loved that story so much. I don't think he tried to set it up to fail. It was just a good wake up call to remember to look around at the world a little more. Even if it is 8 a.m. in the morning. However, I like your idea. We should see if he'll come back to try Dupont Circle at 6 p.m.
Posted by: MelissaBellPost | January 5, 2011 4:28 PM | Report abuse
The homeless man wasn't filmed two days ago. He was filmed about 2 weeks ago and it very nearly didn't become local news in Columbus, OH.
It's a pure stroke-of-luck that a slow news day in Columbus resulted in the video clip being broadcast locally. So, the local news team and whomever posted it on YouTube are to be commended.
I wish Mr. Williams (the Golden Voice) all the best. Just keep yourself clean and things will be all right.
Posted by: TooManyPeople | January 6, 2011 10:54 AM | Report abuse
Great Voice....Fenway Park could use him....Now Batting...batttiiinngg for Boston..Bosstttooonnn.......Carl Yaskremski.............
Hebrews 13:1 & 2 >" Let brotherly love continue. Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares."
Posted by: MikeEganPhotos | January 7, 2011 9:58 AM | Report abuse
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