I was going to write about a pink grasshopper today, but that can wait.Because … the world lost an icon of the ‘60s folk revival when Mary Travers – the angelic third of Peter, Paul & Mary – died yesterday from complications caused by chemotherapy in her battle against leukemia at a hospital in Danbury, Connecticut. She was 72.
My memories of Mary Travers have their roots in two live Peter, Paul & Mary concerts that I attended in the ‘60s – the first was at the Waikiki Shell in Honolulu while attending the University of Hawaii at Manoa, the second was at the Long Beach Auditorium while I was at Woodbury College in Los Angeles.
At both concerts, Mary was introduced by Paul Stookey and Peter Yarrow as the beautiful one-third of their group, the member who is #1 in the hearts of their fans everywhere.
When she walked out on stage, her blond hair reflected a heavenly glow that brought us to our feet in overwhelming applause. And when she started signing, we quieted into a dream world that wrapped around us like a warm blanket.
Most people will remember Peter, Paul & Mary’s big hits – Puff the Magic Dragon, If I had a Hammer, Lemon Tree, Blowing in the Wind, Don’t Think Twice, and I Love Rock ‘n Roll Music – most definitely were songs that uplifted more than one generation of music lovers.
However much I loved their hits, some of my favorite PP&M songs were hidden away in their albums – songs like Stewball, When the Ship Comes In, San Francisco Bay Blues (with kazoos), Betty and Dupree, and There Is a Ship (which my group, The Januarys, recorded in 1966 or 1967, I forget exactly when).
There would be no ’60s folk era without Mary Travers. I am sad today, perhaps I will just lie back, listen to some of her music, and reflect upon those turbulent yet hopeful times.
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