Woody Guthrie was our national folk laureate . Born in Okemah, Oklahoma on july 14, 1912, Woody was the third of five children in the Charley and Nora Guthrie family. Both parents were talented, handsome individuals; Charley was a successful businessman who dabbled in local politics and enjoyed writing, while Nora maintained a happy home and often entertained the family by singing her folk ballads. Woody's talents were family ones. From Charley he learned optimism and gained a spirit of fighting for his beliefs. From Nora he inherited the unfortunate Huntington's Disease that ultimately destroyed his body as it did his mother's. ...