Reflecting on John Prine’s passing, and the preciousness of being present at the end

Legendary folk singer-songwriter John Prine died of complications from Covid-19 Tuesday at the age of 73 — the age my dad would have reached last Sunday if he’d lived as long.

My father was a hardcore folk and bluegrass fan, a well-read social worker who studied psychology and philosophy, and like so many who were touched by his five decades of Grammy-winning music, my father loved Prine.

I remember the album cover of Prine’s 1971 self-titled debut — which pictured a young Prine seated on bales of hay — because it sat out front leaning against the other records, it was spun so often.

Prine’s wisdom and wit resonated with my dad, and he was quick to quote Prine’s lyrics. In my father’s later years, he forgot many of the things he loved (watching basketball, listening to most of his CDs, reading), but never John Prine.

Dad would have appreciated Prine’s resilience.

Prine — who began his career as a musician in Chicago after serving in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War — beat cancer twice, in 1998 and again in 2013. The 1998 surgery on his throat altered his singing and speaking voice, and part of his lung was removed in 2013; but he recovered and continued to write, record, tour and collaborate with other artists.

Best known for the oft-covered “Angel of Montgomery,” Prine co-wrote hits for George Strait, Don Williams and David Allan Coe. The list of stars who have covered his songs includes Bonnie Raitt, Miranda Lambert, Bette Midler and Johnny Cash.

And he hadn’t faded from view, like many of his peers: His latest album — 2018’s “The Tree of Forgiveness,” made 47 years after his first — featured Jason Isbell, Amanda Shires and Brandi Carlile. In January, Prine received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and he was scheduled to play MerleFest later this month after canceling his winter tour in order to recover from hip surgery.

As news of his passing spread quickly on Tuesday, fans and peers — from Bruce Springsteen to ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons — paid tribute to Prine in a variety of ways.

His death is the music industry’s latest coronavirus-related casualty, following “Saturday Night Live” music producer Hal Wilner, who died Monday at age 64; Marsalis family patriarch Ellis Marsalis Jr. (Branford and Wynton’s 85-year-old father); Emmy-winning Fountains of Wayne frontman Adam Schlesinger, who was 52; and Grammy-winning country artist Joe Diffie, who was 61. (Soul legend Bill Withers also died last week at 81, due to heart disease.)

When my dad died 17 years ago this month, I wasn’t with him; but I was OK with that because it was sudden and fast and he didn’t suffer long. But I keep thinking now about those with the virus who have to die alone — those whose families can’t be with them because of the danger to both parties — and it’s heart-wrenching. It makes the suffering all the more excruciating.

I’m reminded of when I sat at my best friend’s bedside this past January, talking and singing to her two nights before she passed (she’d been battling esophageal and brain cancer).

I found great comfort in that, perhaps even more than she did.

And I can only hope that Fiona Whelan Prine found similar comfort in her husband’s final days.

His wife of 24 years (and his manager), Fiona tested positive for coronavirus herself in early March. Though her husband’s initial test was inconclusive, the couple had remained isolated from each other until his diagnosis was confirmed.

A statement from Prine’s Oh Boy Records, issued Wednesday, revealed that Fiona was with John in the hospital before he passed.

If only we could all be so fortunate in the end.