ICYMI: Bust Of 'Lovely' Harry Chapin Sculpted By Former LI Neighbor

HAUPPAUGE, NY — Harry Chapin once sang "All my life's a circle."

It's fitting, then, that the life of a girl he once inspired when they were neighbors in Huntington Bay, Long Island, has come full circle. Decades later, the girl Chapin helped encourage down an artistic path was commissioned — coincidentally — by Long Island Cares to create a bust in the late singer-songwriter's honor.

Susan Bahary grew up in Huntington Bay in the 1970s with Chapin as a neighbor. Chapin was an award-winning musician and hunger activist at the height of his power. Bahary was a teenager with dreams of pursuing singing or art.

Bahary went to Chapin with the hope of discussing her ambitions with him. Chapin, who knew Bahary had a penchant for art, encouraged her, she said. Chapin invited Bahary to create a logo for WhyHunger (then "World Hunger Year"), an organization he co-founded with Radio DJ Bill Ayres with the belief that access to nutritious food is a human right and hunger is a solvable problem in a world of abundance. Bahary's logo was not used, but she appreciates the fact that Chapin asked her to try her hand at it.

"The feeling that stayed with me forever was how giving he was, how he thought about helping young people, and how positive and encouraging a person he was," Bahary, now in her 60s and living in California, told Patch. "In that discussion, I realized that there is somebody there who believed in my ability."

Bahary said her family always supported her artistic endeavors.

"But to have an outsider who is also a talented artist recognize my potential and also want to be that helpful is what stayed with me," she said.

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