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The 'Young Men With Capital' Who Started Woodstock

Forty years ago, Joel Rosenman and John Roberts were in their 20s when they came into a large inheritance. They decided to take the money and promote a rock concert in upstate New York — an event that later became known as Woodstock.

Rosenman and Roberts later published Young Men With Unlimited Capital, which described their preparation for the festival, their shock and confusion when Woodstock turned out to be bigger than planned and their months of legal hassling after the concert.

Roberts died in 2001.

This interview was originally broadcast on July 29, 1989.

Copyright 2023 Fresh Air. To see more, visit Fresh Air.

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

Federal funding is gone.

Congress has eliminated all funding for public media.

That means $2.1 million per year that Connecticut Public relied on to deliver you news, information, and entertainment programs you enjoyed is gone.

The future of public media is in your hands.

All donations are appreciated, but we ask in this moment you consider starting a monthly gift as a Sustainer to help replace what’s been lost.