Folk legend Pete Seeger has long been one of my heroes. A true patriot, he consistently brought together music and politics, not with dogma but with delight. Here’s a terrific postcard Seeger sent me in 2006, in response to my zine “The Long Walk Back to Myself,” about my 3-day, 50-mile walk from my home in Brooklyn to the Clearwater music festival in Croton, NY. Seeger founded the festival in 1966 with the goal of cleaning up the Hudson River. Since this walk, in 2004, I’ve traveled up the Hudson on my own power (walking and kayaking) as far as Cold Spring, and plan to go (leg by leg) all the way to its beginnings atop Mount Marcy in the Adirondacks. RIP Pete, you will be missed.
One for the small world department. Just last week I sarettd watching “Weeds” for the first time, which has Malvina Reynolds’ rendition of “Little Boxes …” as the theme song. Funny thing was, I’d thought it was a Pete Seeger song, as that was the version I grew up with. My folks had it on 7″ single, and even though I now know we’re not talking about people literally living in boxes (hey I was young okay), I’m still charmed by it to this day. 😀