DCS: alice brock

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A free spirit from a very young age, Alice Pelkey learned a love of cooking from her mother. After dropping out of college, Alice married Ray Brock, a woodworker and craftsman over ten years her senior. A gift from her mother allowed the couple to purchase an old church in Stockbridge, Massachusetts that was used as a residence and gathering spot for friends. Alice and her husband got jobs at the Stockbridge School. It was here that Alice met aspiring singer Arlo Guthrie. They bonded over common interests in counter-culture and the fact that they each had a Jewish parent.

Alice pursued her love of cooking and opened a restaurant in Stockbridge called, fittingly, “Alice’s Restaurant.” Though modestly successful, the establishment stayed open for just a year. Her friend Arlo was inspired to write a song based on Alice and the restaurant. Later, he expanded the song, adding verses alluding to a real-life incident involving dumping trash on Thanksgiving and a subsequent arrest.

In 1969, Arlo was approached to adapt the song into a film. With an expanded story, Arlo was cast as himself, along with a mix of actors and real-life counterparts taking the other roles. Arlo asked Alice to appear in the film and she refused. She earned a minimal amount of compensation for promotional appearances to promote the film. However, Alice was furious with director Arthur Penn’s addition of “fabricated incidents” inserted into the storyline. Alice asserted that she was not promiscuous, as depicted in the film, and that she never slept with Arlo Guthrie. She distanced herself from the film and claimed it afforded her unwelcome fame. She did endorse a cookbook published in conjunction with the film, claiming that the recipes went invented by her with her mother’s assistance.

She made an attempt at franchising “Alice’s Restaurants,” but the venture failed after the first location closed abruptly. A second, stand-alone “Alice’s Restaurant” was successful, despite a constant battle with local zoning ordinances. A third restaurant — Alice’s at Avaloch — was a victim of logistic nightmares, mismanagement and unreliable employees. After filing for bankruptcy, Alice was able to keep one memento from the restaurant — the table on which Arlo Guthrie wrote the song “Alice’s Restaurant.”

Later in life, Alice turned to artwork. She painted and drew. She even illustrated a children’s’ book written by her friend Arlo. Sadly, heath issues prevented her art career to further. A 2020 collection for assistance for medical bills netted Alice $180,000. She also recorded a series of radio promos to be aired before annual broadcasts of the song “Alice’s Restaurant.”

Just prior to Thanksgiving 2024, it was reported that Alice Brock passed away while in hospice. She was 83.

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