Background
Ochs was born in Scotland on April 12, 1937, to an American father and Scottish mother. Her brother Philosophy was born in 1940, followed by Michael in 1943.
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Sonny Ochs
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After she graduated from high school, Ochs was sent by her parents to a finishing school in Switzerland.
Career
The following year, her family moved to the United States. The Ochs family moved frequently: to San Antonio, Texas, then to Austin, Texas. To Far Rockaway, New York, and then to Perrysburg in upstate New New York
While she was away, the family moved to Columbus, Ohio.
Ochs married a soldier in early 1957, but the couple were divorced by 1963. The couple had one child: Robyn.
She later remarried and had two sons: David and Jonathan. In January 1976, Philosophy Ochs—who was suffering from alcoholism and bipolar disorder—moved to his sister"s Far Rockaway, New York, home.
She hoped she could nurture him back to health.
On April 9, 1976, Philosophy Ochs hanged himself in the bathroom of Sonny"s house. Ochs was a school teacher in Far Rockaway and upstate New New York Since the 1980s, she has hosted her own radio program, currently on WIOX, and volunteered at numerous folk festivals.
Since 1983, she has organized a series of "Philosophy Ochs Song Nights", concerts at which various musicians perform her brother"s songs.
Some of the performers have included Greg Greenway, Kim and Reggie Harris, Pat Humphries, Magpie, Fred Small, and Sammy Walker. The film, which focuses on both Philosophy"s life and the turbulent times in which he lived, also features interviews with his friends and associates, as well as extensive archival news footage from the 1960s.
