Hi Ady,
Take a look at this..............
Rodd Keith Revealed
By Ellery Eskelin
"Leaping or falling from an overcrossing onto the Hollywood Freeway, a man identified as Rodney Eskelin, 37, address unknown, was struck by numerous cars and killed. Police said the victim plunged down the Santa Monica Blvd. overpass onto the northbound freeway about 5:10a.m. and drivers could not avoid him."
This news item ran in the Los Angeles Times on December 16, 1974. Rodney Eskelin was my father. I was recently at the New York Public Library and decided to search the records for any mention of this event. I had always suspected that there would be and here it was. I was familiar with the circumstances of his death but was shocked by the bold matter of fact delivery and yet strange as it sounds, able to draw a certain amount of strength and comfort from the reality of it. Sometimes I feel that my father probably had a more profound effect on my life than anyone I've ever met. It's quite a legacy especially given the fact that I had almost no direct contact with him before he either accidentally or intentionally left this world.
Rodney Keith Eskelin, (or Rodd as he spelled his name), was considered a musical genius by every person that I've ever spoken to who knew him. For most of my life this story would remain a deeply private one, difficult to gain a perspective on let alone try to relate and share with others. In 1994, however that all changed. I discovered that my father Rodd Keith (as he was known in the music business), had himself been discovered by an intrepid record collector and was now gaining cult status for his work in the "song poem" industry. "Song poem" music refers to those "send us your lyrics" ads that you've probably seen in magazines. Rodd was one of the people who set those words to music and recorded the songs which were then "sent around" as promotion on behalf of the client. A strange process that produced even stranger results. This is Rodd's (and my) story.
Read more - https://home.earthlink.net/~eskelin/Rodd.html