Sam Shepard, storyteller
The writer tells a story live at The Moth
A collective sigh was heard around the world when the news of Sam Shepard’s death was announced last week. Admired by everyone—writers, actors, composers, musicians, poets, artists, and cowboys—the Pulitzer-Winning playwright’s untimely exit has left a huge void in our hearts and the arts, one that won’t be filled again anytime soon.
Already eulogized beautifully in The New Yorker by his former girlfriend, the writer/performer Patti Smith, we decided to sooth our dispirited souls with a deep dive into some of Shepard’s well-loved roles. From his first trailblazing part in Terrence Malick’s Days of Heaven (1978) to his Oscar-nominated role in The Right Stuff (1983) to one of his last performances in Netflix’s Bloodline, Shepard’s dusty handsomeness never failed to quicken the pulses of his admiring fans.
We dug up a live performance recorded at The Moth in May 2008 by Sammy, as his friends called him, which shows off his unique ability to capture an audience’s attention with his words and cowboy charm. Here, he tells the story, “You Can Lead a Horse to Water,” about his insistence at using his own horse for a routine stunt in The Right Stuff, and how things went very, very wrong.
Adios, sweet Sam. You shall be missed.