Artist and restaurateur Alice Brock who was the inspiration behind Arlo Guthrie’s Alice’s Restaurant Massacre passed away at 83. The news of her death was shared by Guthrie’s Facebook page ‘Rising Son Records.’ As per the post, Brock passed away in her residence in Provincetown, Massachusetts where she stayed for around 40 years.
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Although the cause of her death was not shared, Guthrie mentioned about her failing health. However, according to the piece by The New York Times, the artist died from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in a hospice, as revealed by her caregiver and long-time friend Viki Merrick.
COPD is a long-term lung condition that causes inflammation and airway obstruction, leading to difficulty breathing, mucus-producing cough, and wheezing.
Alice Brock was a member of Students for a Democratic Society. After dropping out of Sarah Lawrence College, she moved to Greenwich Village where she married Ray Brock. In the Facebook post, Arlo Guthrie, with whom Brock co-authored the children's book Mooses Come Walking, wrote,
“This coming Thanksgiving will be the first without her. Alice and my daughter, Annie had spoken together recently and Alice, knowing her circumstances, approved an exhibit at the church to tell her own story."
He continued,
"Alice and I spoke by phone a couple of weeks ago, and she sounded like her old self. we joked around and had a couple of good laughs even though we knew we'd never have another chance to talk together.”
Born in New York City, Alice Brock also authored a memoir, My Life as a Restaurant. Before her passing, she and Guthrie were planning an exhibit at her former Stockbridge home.
Alice Brock was not so passionate about cooking despite having many restaurants
Despite running three restaurants, Brock reportedly admitted she wasn’t passionate about cooking or business, attributing her professional life to her marriage’s end. The story behind Guthrie’s song dates back to Thanksgiving Day in 1965 when a simple task led to Arlo Guthrie's arrest, avoiding military service, and a protest anthem's creation.
While helping his friend Alice Brock with trash, Guthrie and Richard Robbins were charged with illegal dumping by the police, They were not only taken to jail after that but also fined $50.
This seemingly small event had significant consequences, leading Guthrie to write a song about the experience, which became a holiday favorite and protest classic. By 1966, Alice Brock had opened a restaurant, and Guthrie was gaining fame.
Alice Brock's passing coincides with the enduring Thanksgiving tradition of radio stations playing Guthrie’s 18-minute spoken-word piece that brought her fame. In 2020, facing financial struggles due to poor health, a GoFundMe campaign organized by Lamot and Davis raised $180,000, with contributions and kind messages from friends and strangers alike.
Though she initially expected to live just two more years, Brock spent four more years near the water, as she had wished. Merrick, who was also a former employee at one of her Berkshires restaurants, shared that Brock left behind a chosen family of friends who would celebrate her life.
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