Remembering Jud Strunk 35 Years Later

In the 70's, he was a Maine folk hero and nearly won the election for a Senate seat in the Maine State Legislature.

He was Jud Strunk, and to those who knew him, he was as down to earth and laid back as anyone could be.

A native of New York, Strunk moved to Farmington, Maine in 1960 and started out singing at a local hotel. He then began a solo act on the U.S. Armed Forces circuit, appeared in the Broadway musical Beautiful Dreamer, and during the early '70s was a semi-regular on Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In. Strunk also appeared on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and did his signature song "Daisy A Day"

Although much of Strunk's material was humorous, his most popular song was not. "Daisy A Day" which Strunk wrote and recorded in 1973, is a gentle, sentimental ballad describing the relationship between a boy and girl who ultimately grow old together. For every day of their lives, he gives her a daisy as a sign of their love. In the last verse, she has died, but her widower husband continues to make daily visits to her grave. The song made the Billboard Top 20 on both the country and pop music charts.

Jud Strunk was a private pilot and had purchased a 1941 Fairchild M62-A. On October 5, 1981, 35 years ago today,  he suffered a heart attack while taking off in the aircraft at Carrabassett Valley Airport in Maine and was killed instantly along with his passenger, local businessman Dick Ayotte. He was 45 years old.

Here's a video of Strunk doing his song Daisy a Day on the Tonight Show.