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Scarsdale Woman Who Inspired Harry Chapin Song Dies At 73

SCARSDALE, N.Y. -- The Scarsdale native who was said to be the inspiration for Harry Chapin’s love song “Taxi” died earlier this month in Falls Church, Va., according to a report by lohud.com

Clare Alden McIntyre-Ross, a former Scarsdale woman said to be the inspiration for the Harry Chapin song, "Taxi," died Wednesday, March 9, in Falls Church, Va. She was 73.

Clare Alden McIntyre-Ross, a former Scarsdale woman said to be the inspiration for the Harry Chapin song, "Taxi," died Wednesday, March 9, in Falls Church, Va. She was 73.

Photo Credit: Clare McIntyre-Ross/Facebook
Singer-Songwriter Harry Chapin's song, "Taxi," is said to have been inspired by his youthful relationship with former Scarsdale resident Clare Alden McIntyre-Ross.

Singer-Songwriter Harry Chapin's song, "Taxi," is said to have been inspired by his youthful relationship with former Scarsdale resident Clare Alden McIntyre-Ross.

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

Clare Alden MacIntyre-Ross met the singer-songwriter in 1960 at a summer camp in Fishkill where she was a counselor and Chapin – and his brother, Tom, also a famed musician – were campers, the lohud report said.

She and Harry Chapin dated for a while after the summer was over, but eventually broke up, apparently inspiring Chapin to write “Taxi,” a song about former lovers, and “Stars Tangled in Her Hair,” Tom Chapin told lohud.com.

According to Wikipedia, "Taxi" tells the tale of a cab driver named "Harry" who picks up a late-night fare who turns out to be an old lover.

Harry Chapin was only 38 when he died in a car accident in 1981, the lohud.com article said.

According to an obituary posted on legacy.com, MacIntyre-Ross died on Wednesday, March 9, in Falls Church as the result of complications from a stroke. She was 73.

Born in Washington, D.C., she worked on Wall Street, as Drexel Burnham Lambert’s first female institutional salesman, and then as an account officer at Citibank in its International Services Division for Latin America.

She was a graduate of The Mount Vernon Seminary in Washington, D.C., The Masters School in Dobbs Ferry, and Bennett College in Millbrook.

She earned a bachelor's degree in music and a music therapist certificate from the University of the Pacific in Stockton, Calif.

She is survived by her husband, David A. Ross, a lawyer and retired lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve; a sister, Pamela; brother-in-law, Robert Sawrey; nephews, Duncan and Gordon MacIntyre; and other close family members.

She was predeceased by a brother, Bruce.

To read the lohud article, click here.

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