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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsMy Pete Seeger story...
MANY years ago--30 now that I think of it, I was 18 at the time--I was on my way up to Albany for the weekend to visit some pals who were attending SUNY Albany; I had to work full time to support myself and wasn't lucky enough to attend college at that time, so trips to visit girlfriends at University was as close as I got. The train stopped in Beacon, a tall, older man with a gig bag and a smile got on. He sat next to me and I looked up from my book and said "Wow! Pete Seeger!". He chuckled and said "yes, young lady, I'm afraid so!" and I told him I was absolutely delighted to meet him. He looked at me quizzically and said "you're far too young to know who I am
how is it that you knew me? Were your parents hippies?" he asked with a laugh, and i said "Noooo, it wasn't my parents!" "Don't tell me, it was your grandparents?!" he asked me with a note of disappointment in his voice. "Nope!" I responded at last, "I used to watch you on Sesame Street!!" He laughed so hard that he got turned beet red in the face.
As luck would have it, the book I had in my hand was "Walden" and we spent the trip talking about the environment and philosophy, and it was one of the most wonderful train trips of my life. He was kind, open-minded and big-hearted.
When we were parting company he said "well, I'm sure happy that Channel 13 did such a splendid job with your education".
RIP Mr. Seeger. You had a big influence on my young mind, and you'll leave a big hole in my middle aged heart.
frazzled
(18,402 posts)What a wonderful story. And a great endorsement of Sesame Street, too!
elleng
(130,127 posts)Thanks very much for sharing it.
B Calm
(28,762 posts)steve2470
(37,457 posts)Ron Green
(9,821 posts)Logical
(22,457 posts)malaise
(267,801 posts)Wow!! Lucky you.
reformist2
(9,841 posts)dorkzilla
(5,141 posts)I think of the really cool ways they tried to teach us to count, while simultaneously exposing us to other cultures. Like this little ditty
.
By the way, I still sing "Lady Bug Picnic" when I'm doing the dishes.
dipsydoodle
(42,239 posts)that got close to putting an axe through the power cable at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival when Dylan went electric.
If you search you'll find that has gone down as being only a rumour but as I said - I know who was with him .
dorkzilla
(5,141 posts)2banon
(7,321 posts)fortunately for everybody, the cables did not suffer the wrath of the purist at heart and remained intact. I'm a huge fan of both Seeger and Dylan and will remain so through eternity..
R.I.P. Pete, you gave us more than you'll ever know.
MyOwnPeace
(16,887 posts)2banon
(7,321 posts)struggle4progress
(118,039 posts)dorkzilla
(5,141 posts)I'm listening and crying. Thank you for that memory...
Adenoid_Hynkel
(14,093 posts)rurallib
(62,344 posts)and the great part was that he was just another human, not some self important a-------.
I have been sort of celebrating his life in my mind today.
mcar
(42,210 posts)What a great memory!
RoccoR5955
(12,471 posts)Perhaps I should post some of my many stories of my adventures with Pete from the mid 80s to the 00s.
dorkzilla
(5,141 posts)especially if you knew him and knew what kind of a person he really was.
TBF
(31,921 posts)Le Taz Hot
(22,271 posts)How lucky are you???? Thank you for sharing your story.
2banon
(7,321 posts)Here's something that came along way before Sesame Street was even thought of:
(Tip of the hat to fellow Du'r randr for posting this in another thread)
"To Hear Your Banjo Play - 1947" (an Alan Lomax Film Production)
zentrum
(9,865 posts)...Pete was a friend of my parents, who were WPA artists temporarily in Colorado because of political organizing actions. Do you know "The Salt of the Earth" movie--about immigrant miners organizing? Well it was for that. One night, sitting in the kitchen of their house, and it was time for my older but still very young sister to go to bed, Pete took out his Banjo and inserted her name into the song, "Goodnight Ilene". (it was a name that rhymed.) Magical.
Years later, my mother donated a water color drawing of Pete's wife to Listener's Sponsored radio in NYC for them to auction off and make some money.
Pete was adored by everyone and very important to workers and artists for many decades, right up until his last breath.
dorkzilla
(5,141 posts)He seemed to really love young people and it felt like that love also was concern for them and the kind of world they were living in.
He was one of the good ones, and I can't think of another who inhabits the earth that is anything like him. He'll be missed, truly missed.
zentrum
(9,865 posts)He was so natural and compassionate with everyone. A Bard for working people. Active in causes for over 70 years.
DirkGently
(12,151 posts)Generic Other
(28,979 posts)Thank you for sharing that with us all.
I really appreciate the outpouring of feelings and sharing of stories today. I feel less alone in my sadness.
hfojvt
(37,573 posts)Cool story though.
MineralMan
(146,192 posts)hfojvt
(37,573 posts)but being almost 52, I never caught his name on any of the episodes of Sesame Street that I watched.
mountain grammy
(26,568 posts)so you could appreciate the encounter. Just think, 30 years ago he was 64 and he was surprised you recognized him because that's the kind of man he was. There shouldn't be a living American who doesn't know Pete Seeger.
dorkzilla
(5,141 posts)I could have been just another gushing fan, but he was genuinely surprised at my reaction, then this living legend sat with this girl and LISTENED to HER, talked with her, exchanged ideas, imparted wisdom and encouraged me to be an activist, even if it was in some small way "write a letter, make a phone call, volunteer your time and your heart and mind"...and he may as well have burned it into my flesh because I've never forgotten his words, nor his passion, to this day.
To him it was a small encounter but to me, it was a momentous occassion.
I told him the "Garbage" song with Oscar the Grouch single-handedly turned me into a tiny environmentalist...and he flashed the braodest smile at hearing it. He was very clearly happy, maybe even a little proud, to have made such an impact on a child.
mountain grammy
(26,568 posts)because he also knew how to listen. We've lost a wonderful man, but very grateful for 94 years.
aquart
(69,014 posts)As kind as he was to you, you did a lovely thing for him, too.
Thanks, dorkzilla. That was heart-warming truth about the gentleman that Pete Seeger was. He was a giant character in this country's history and will be treasured now for all the ages. You should send that story to his family. I know they would appreciate it.
MineralMan
(146,192 posts)s-cubed
(1,385 posts)dorkzilla
(5,141 posts)He really had a magical quality with children.
Little_Wing
(417 posts)K&R
onlyadream
(2,159 posts)What a special memory.
Botany
(70,291 posts)Thanx for your story!
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1017172163
longislandAnnie
(13 posts)During the anti War, anti Bush protest at the RNC convention in New York City back in 2004. They were marching along with a few other musicians and activists from upstate NY somewhere near the rear of the blocks and blocks of marchers. They welcomed my sister, my college age son, and I to join them and made an already amazing day, exhilarating. We'll miss you Pete.
senseandsensibility
(16,713 posts)human being. You have just opened another window into his personality that most people would never hear about. Thank you for sharing that with us.
WillyT
(72,631 posts)BuelahWitch
(9,083 posts)Although I know he was on other shows that we watched when I was growing up, namely The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, I don't remember seeing him there. However, I do remember his appearances on Sesame Street!
dorkzilla
(5,141 posts)I do remember Steve Martin on their show though!
BuelahWitch
(9,083 posts)Here's the clip:
MyOwnPeace
(16,887 posts)by David Bianculli (NPR - Fresh Air) tells the story of the Smothers Brothers show - including a chapter about Pete and "the Big Muddy" as well as many others on the show, including Steve Martin.
BuelahWitch
(9,083 posts)It's a must read for those into '60s culture.
babylonsister
(170,962 posts)I love your story! Sesame Street wasn't a part of my youth, so it's nice to know where their hearts were.
Can I share this? Great memory, thanks!
dorkzilla
(5,141 posts)A man like Pete Seeger deserves all the remembrance we can muster, even if the story is once removed.
warrior1
(12,325 posts)Paka
(2,760 posts)I was around in the '60's and heard (and sang with him) in concert. Everyone sang at his concerts. What a wonderful experience to sit and chat with him on the train. He was a true American and a hero to so many of us.
blaze
(6,270 posts)What a great memory!
So glad you shared it with us.
etherealtruth
(22,165 posts)BlancheSplanchnik
(20,219 posts)Wonderful!!!!
adirondacker
(2,921 posts)Beacool
(30,244 posts)Thanks for sharing it.
spanone
(135,632 posts)Hekate
(90,189 posts)I can tell that the encounter warmed you forever, as it would have done for me.
Jetboy
(792 posts)Sharing the rails with Pete puts you in fine tradition.
Cha
(295,899 posts)the Universe.. you were meant to be there at that moment in time.. to enrich your life and Pete Seeger's.
And, to enrich ours 30 years later~ mahalo
Dark n Stormy Knight
(9,760 posts)DFW
(54,051 posts)FailureToCommunicate
(13,989 posts)All the Seegers -Pete, Peggy, Mike were familiar recordings around our house as I grew up, so when I was fortunate to 'work' along side of Pete at numerous Hudson Clearwater Revival festivals back in the 1970's Pete seemed more like a kindly uncle than a folk superstar. Not sure if any of us really actually 'worked along side of him'. It felt like we were always trotting behind him trying to keep up with his seemingly boundless energy! As we ended late nights of singing in a dining area, Pete would quietly get up and resume sweeping up the place. Early in the mornings, as we were just getting up, there was Pete already picking up litter from the fields. I said good morning Pete, how ya doing, and he'd say: "Oh, strugglin on, strugglin on"
One other time I got the chance to sing FOR Pete at a singer/songwriter weekend event. Pete was very kind to each of us in his critique of our songs, even if you could tell he wasn't too impressed. To me he said "Well, but don't take my opinion as gospel, long ago I told Woody that I didn't think much of his new song "This Land is Your Land"" Pete was always so encouraging of ANYONE to make music and sing your heart out.
Thanks Pete for all the courage you showed, by example, to stand up for progressive causes with grace. And for inspiring generations of kids to feel like they could (should!) get up and sing. That music for humans, like for birds, was in our nature, and we should not just leave it to the professionals and pop stars!
I picture you in heaven rousing a group of harp players to join in one of my favorite songs of yours as you got older: Old Devil Time:
May you ever keep on "strugglin on, strugglin on"
dorkzilla
(5,141 posts)"...Pete seemed more like a kindly uncle than a folk superstar"
Exactly. He made you feel instantly comfortable and warm.
I live less than 2 miles from Croton-on-Hudson and although I haven't been to a Revival in years (which is ridiculous as I could literally walk down my hill and be there in 10 minutes) we used to go all the time when I was a kid. I think I'll make it a point to attend this year as my own tribute to Pete.
FailureToCommunicate
(13,989 posts)(for the time) ecology presenters, traditional boat builders, crafts, and record sellers (one of my roles, Rounder Records) and street dancers (another of my involvements)!
It will be tough next time with both Toshi and Pete gone, but their legacy is monumental! I'm sure it will carry on.
deutsey
(20,166 posts)and I'm sure Pete had his all-too-human side...however, I would truly be disappointed if I heard he was anything other than the way you describe him here most of the time.
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