Guthrie, who was hospitalized in New Jersey with a rare, hereditary disease of the nervous system. I am proud to say I succeeded on both counts. I became a fixture in the Village's folk clubs and coffeehouses and at Guthrie's hospital bedside, where I would perform the folk legend's own songs for an audience of one. Spending all of my spare time in the company of other musicians, I amazed them with my ability to learn songs perfectly after hearing them only once. I also began writing songs at a remarkable pace, including a tribute to my hero entitled Song to Woody. (http://www.discographynet.com/dylan/dylan.html) Indeed, my interest in music have become so intense that I rarely find the time to go to class. I began to perform solo at local nightspots like the Ten o'clock Scholar cafe and St. Paul's Purple Onion Pizza Parlor, honing my guitar and harmonica work and developing the expressive nasal voice that would become the nucleus of my soon to be trademark sound. It was around this time, too, that I adopted the stage name Bob Dylan, presumably in honor of the late Welsh poet Dylan Thomas. In the fall of 1961, my music began to spread beyond folk circles and into the world at large after critic Robert Shelton saw me perform at Gerde's Folk City and he raved in the New York Times that I was "bursting at the seams with talent." A month later, Columbia Records executive John Hammond signed me to a recording contract, and I began selecting material for his eponymous debut album. Not yet fully confident in my own songwriting abilities, I cut only two original numbers, rounding out the collection with traditional folk tunes and songs by blues singers like Blind Lemon Jefferson and Bukka White. This time for me was incredible. I am finally becoming what I have had always wanted to be. It's the most incredible feeling. July 1966 Its been a long time since I have written in this journal. Mainly because in the last five years I have bee...