In Memoriam: Mary Allin Travers

Mary Travers died last night, September 16th.

I hope you know who that is, but if you don't, she was Mary of the 60's folk group, Peter, Paul and Mary. You should follow that link and read the statement from her bandmates and friends, Peter Yarrow and Noel Paul Stookey. We should all be so lucky to have something just as nice said about us.

So I was brought up a bit short this morning when I got to work, mentioned her passing to the assembled crowd, and the response was, "Who's that?"

I had to sing a few lines from Puff the Magic Dragon before they knew who I was talking about. That was after I sang the If I Had a Hammer song, and they had no idea what I was singing.

When a celebrity passes, a person you never met, the only thing you can really comment on is how they impacted your life, and not who they were. By the same token, I think when you remember someone, you're doing that anyway, regardless of how well you knew them.

Hence, I share with you what I shared with my officemates. I was raised by hippies.

Now, my parents weren't Naropa Institute hippie fakers. I was raised by genuine organic farmers, people who did this before it was even mildly cool. Who planted gardens with a Burpee Seed Catalog under one arm and a Mother Earth magazine under the other. They were fascinated by earthen houses, solar power and cold frames. My parents protested the building of a creosote plant on an SAA classified riverway in South Carolina. My mom had a separate account for HER spending money, and it wasn't something dad dribbled funds into either, it was financed with chicken eggs, homemade bread, and stuffed animals she sewed when she wasn't doing community nursing in some of the poorest areas of rural South Carolina. My mother is a feminist who told an Edward Jones representative that if he was investing HER retirement fund, he'd better call and consult with HER and not ask for MISTER BURKE, THANK YOU.

And while my dad has to own up to an extensive collection of records by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, with all their suggestive cover art, they also listened to folk music. Dad decided that if Joan Baez were that ugly, she had to be a good singer. They both had records from the Kingston Trio, the Mamas and the Papas, and Peter, Paul and Mary.

That's what I grew up hearing. I know most of the lyrics to the Moving album and I think I could do a respectable job with the See What Tomorrow Brings album as well. They sang to me because my mother didn't sing. When I got older, I learned how to sing harmony while listening to Mary Travers, and I guarantee that, partly because of this education, I picked up tunes so easily my highschool choir teacher thought I could sight read. I made it to All-State HONORS choir because of those records. But that's not all. Because of Where Have All the Flowers Gone, I knew about Pete Seeger, who wrote the song. Because of Blowin' in the Wind, I knew about Bob Dylan, who wrote the song. Because of Leavin' on a Jet Plane, I knew about John Denver, and understood why my parents had John's albums too. Because of that, I thought Colorado... might be wonderful.

I guess it's fitting that I'd find myself a few years later in a boarding house on The Hill in Boulder, Colorado, listening to a Peter, Paul and Mary concert on public television, bawling my eyes out. I remember the caretaker of the boarding house knocking on the door to my room. I answered. She took one look at me and asked, "Are you alright?" I nodded, pointed to the television as if all would become clear if she saw what I was watching.

She paused only briefly. "Oh. Rent is due tomorrow." She had evidently decided I was not a suicide risk. The jury was still out on other psychiatric intervention.

I've learned my lesson. This morning, when I got such a similar reaction, I called my hippie mother.

She totally got it, man.

Thanks Mary. I know you marched on Washington. I know you stood up for civil rights. But your songs were my lullabyes. I won't forget.

--Laura

“We’ve learned that it will take more than one generation to bring about change. The fight for civil rights has developed into a broader concern for human rights, and that encompasses a great many people and countries. Those of us who live in a democracy have a responsibility to be the voice for those whose voices are stilled."

--- Mary Travers