On the morning of August 18, 1969, Jimi Hendrix mounted the stage as the final act of the now-legendary Woodstock Music and Art Fair.  (In fact, he was supposed to be closing the festival the previous evening, but delays — including a massive rainstorm — on Sunday afternoon meant that the music continued all night long and into Monday morning.) Midway through his set, he launched into an unforgettable instrumental improvisation on the National Anthem that became his signature, and an icon of the anarchy, passion, and chaos of the last years of the 1960s.

Thirteen months later to the day, Hendrix was dead at age 27.

Jimi Hendrix was born in Seattle, and his family lived in Renton.  Upon his death, he was buried at Greenwood Memorial Park in the Renton Highlands, not far from my home.  On Tuesday, the fortieth anniversary of Hendrix’s performance at Woodstock, I visited his memorial and took the photograph included here.  Although not my usual subject material, it’s an important place in the Pacific Northwest, as well as an important place for those who grew up in those times.