NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at for further information. MITCHELL: (Singing) To be willing to march.Ĭopyright © 2021 NPR. You can visit our tribute, NPR Songs of Remembrance, at npr.org. MARTIN: Dan Hunt, with a little help from Broadway star Brian Stokes Mitchell, remembering his grandfather, Joseph Karszen. MITCHELL: (Singing) This is my quest, to follow that star. And in the same way that Don Quixote inspires other people to live their dreams, I think my grandpa did that, too. HUNT: I think my grandpa really wanted people to do the best that they could, and he wanted to be encouraging to that and inspire them. MITCHELL: (Singing) This is my quest, to follow that star, no matter how hopeless, no matter how far. So when I hear that song, I think about all the obstacles he overcame. Looking back, I think he was glad to have made it that far and have triumphed over everything. He was really into education and really liked working with people. HUNT: And then he somehow became a principal, which I sometimes look back and I think, wow, I'm surprised (laughter). MITCHELL: (Singing) To fight for the right, without question or pause, to be willing to march into hell for a heavenly cause. He used to tell me one of the things that lifted his spirits was music and musicals. And at the age of 12, he started going blind. And he grew up in a tenement housing project in Yonkers. HUNT: He came from a poor background, the son of Ukrainian immigrants. MITCHELL: (Singing) To try when your arms are too weary. HUNT: The song talks a lot about hardship and overcoming it, and that's kind of what I think of when I think of my grandpa as well.
MITCHELL: (Singing) To right the unrightable wrong. And he would stand up like it was - like the national anthem. And he would either like to start it with that or cap it with that. HUNT: Sunday afternoon, a lot of the times he would play a whole string of Broadway show tunes. (SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM (THE QUEST)")īRIAN STOKES MITCHELL: (Singing) To dream the impossible dream, to fight the unbeatable foe. Here's Dan Hunt talking about his grandfather, Joseph Karszen.ĭAN HUNT: The song that reminds me of my grandfather is "The Impossible Dream" from the Broadway play the "Man Of La Mancha." We're calling our tribute Songs of Remembrance. of COVID-19, and NPR is remembering some of those whose lives were lost by listening to the music they loved and hearing their stories. More than 500,000 people have now died in the U.S.
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