Plan B Forum

Pete Seeger: Political Activist... RIP

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertain ... 6283.story

Saw that on news this morning; I was really surprised...

I thought he'd died years ago...

Surely you recall his performance at Obama's (first) inauguration:



Goodbye, Pete, you were a true American hero.

If I'm not mistaken, he had a birthday celebration (maybe his 90th) at Madison Square Garden a few years back (yep he did, the article mentions it); I saw a broadcast of it on PBS.

I saw him once on stage (Carnegie Hall in 1987 for a World hunger Benefit and Tribute to Harry Chapin); a fun showman.

surely you recall his performance at Obama's (first) inauguration:

I know this will come as a surprise, but I wasn't riveted to my seat watching every minute...(I watched the swearing in and the speech, and not much else)

As for Seeger, I liked some of his music, though obviously I didn't think much of his politics.

Back in the 70s, The National Lampoon Radio Hour did a parody of him that I thought captured Seeger to a tee:

"Join me kids!":

Lord Jim wrote:Saw that on news this morning; I was really surprised...

I thought he'd died years ago...

No, he was just a long time passing.

I can't remember how many times I've seen Pete Seeger in concert--more than a dozen, for sure...every time was energetic, energizing, and fun. We brought our children to his concerts, raised them on his music, and sang his songs together as we drove on long cross-country car trips. A true American hero, and a lasting inspiration. I remember one particular concert by Pete along with Arlo Guthrie in 1974 when my wife and I (and our first daughter, in utero) sat close enough to the stage to read the inscription on his banjo:

A great man and a life well-lived.

He cared about important things, devoted his life and his fortune to doing something about them, and changed the world for the better as a result.

yrs,
rubato