4. Song for Gamble (3:55) Words & Music by Steve Gillette & Charles John Quarto

Our friend Gamble Rogers was a masterful finger-style guitar player and story teller. We lost Gamble when he went into the surf to help rescue a man in trouble off Flagler Beach near Saint Augustine. Sadly both were lost.

Gamble was already a heroic figure to those of us who play music and tell stories. He had a unique presence which combined hypnotic finger-style guitar, a seductive storyteller's craft, and a wonderful sense of humor.

Charles and I made an effort to include some of Gamble's stories and sayings in our tribute. The beach is now known as The Gamble Rogers Memorial State Recreation Area.

An article about Neil Armstrong and the moon landing has brought up the topic of the hero song. Usually some exaggeration or hyperbole will be involved. John Henry vanquished the steam drill, the Frozen Logger buttoned up his coat at a hundred degrees below zero, Davy Crockett "killed a bear when he was only three" and other such larger-than-life tales.

Gamble truly was a hero, but on a human scale. He risked and lost his life in an attempt to rescue a man in trouble in the rip tide at a beach near St. Augustine. This was in October of 1991.

Wikipedia reports that:

"While Rogers was camping at Flagler Beach, a frightened young girl ran to him, begging him to help her father, who was in trouble in rough surf. Compromised by spinal arthritis that had been worsening since childhood, Rogers nevertheless grabbed an air mattress and headed into the ocean in a rescue attempt. Both men died in the surf."

(BMI)

Read more on my About the Song website here