Early in his live radio broadcast of A Prairie Home Companion, on Saturday April 23rd, Garrison Keillor and his guests performed a delightful comic parody of "Hello Stranger". I thought "isn't this neat, a reference for and tribute to Hazel and Alice Gerrard". My pleasure turned to dismay when he announced a little later that Hazel had just died. Hazel...an absolute icon for and troubador of American miners, is no longer with us. Very sad. Her musical direction in "Harlan County USA" helped make Barbara Koppel's 1976 documentary film one of my all time favorites. I still play her 1972 vinyl recording of "Hazel and Alice" for many people who never knew her skill and strength as a mysician. Jim Heidere, Princeton, New Jersey