Mary's legacy: Alicia Travers recalls her folksinger mother's i...

When she was a young girl, it was not unusual for Alicia Travers to come home from school and see Peter, Paul and Mary rehearsing in her Manhattan living room.

[Dan Crowley]

For some people Michael Jackson was the king of music. For me, it was several people Nat King Cole , Rosemary Clooney, Mills Brothers, Cream and many others. Among the many others was Peter, Paul and Mary. I first group up just loving the harmonization of folk music. Later, I didn't just hear the harmonization of voiced but the blending of ideas. I spent much of my childhood extremely sad and looking inward and Peter, Paul and Mary told me there was more than me in our world. They told me to look outward.
As I did my best to get my PHD in Depression then I would here them sing a song and I would hear the message of the futility of war and messages of hope and peace. The war was over when I was in HS my personal battles were not. I felt like Seals and Croft character the King of Nothing.
When I would hear a Peter, Paul and Mary song and for a brief moment I'd smile and sing along. They may not have got me to try the moonwalk; but they did give me peace.

[So sad]

hey wrote:

Thats a sad sad story. Are you still a druggie/burnt out hippie? Or have you finally "grown up"?

Inappropriate comment at an inappropriate time.

My deepest condolences to all of Mary's family members for your loss.

Be proud knowing the lives she touched and the joy she brought to so many people. Her music will live on forever, and personally speaking it will always take me back to a place and time when life was calmer and not so sad.

Thank you for sharing your mom with the world.

[Wendy Noll]

I thought myself the biggest fan of Peter Paul & Mary in the 60's. Mary was and is a shining light in this world and I'm sure the next. I remember as a teenager seeing the group perform many times. Then Mary doing her solo performance in DC. Her blonde hair swinging and punctuating the lyrics, her wonderfully strong voice and her tender rendition of "For Baby for Bobbie".....and the few words she spoke before the song..."For Erika with the windy yellow hair" (I think that was it). In any case this woman, and this group formed my values and life. I listened to their music over and over, and then subjected my children to listen over and over. I don't know if we as a nation can ever return to that spirit and modality....but I do know that that is where we need to be. Thank you, to all of her immediate family for sharing this great light with us, and to you Noel and Peter for sustaining her and giving her the will to go on. I saw you all last at Chastain Park in Atlanta in, I think, 1998, with my children....I still wear the PP&M t-shirt to bed at night. Many of us will never forget and will always hold your music and harmony in our lives.
Sing on Mary....heartfelt condolences...why do all the good die young....

[Mac Lee]

Thank you, Alicia, for sharing personal stories about your mother. My condolences to you. All I had ever known about her was her professional life. I was a teenager during the early '60's and into folk music. I loved your mother's singing. Her voice is what made Peter, Pau, and Mary's sound unique. Some of their songs were some of the first songs I learned to play on the guitar. When I pick it up today, "Blowin' in the Wind is usually the first thing I play. Forty years after it was recorded, I still used some of it in my English classroom when we studied poetry. The world will miss her. God bless you!

[Philip Arnold]

The passing of such a great singer and the group she was with will remain as a legacy not only to Americans but to Australians as well! RIP Mary

[mercy]

My deep sympathies to Mary's family and friends. She will live forever through the rich legacy of activism and song that she leaves all of us with.

[Priscilla Harrison Bates]

I was deeply saddened to learn of the death of Mary Travers. Her music and her life have been an inspiration to me and a generation of folk musicians and social activists.

My thoughts and prayers are with her family.

[PPM Fan]

I met Mary while a high school student in Westport,Ct. in the 60's. I found her very personable, unassuming, and very much a lady. Her music inspired us and brought many hours of listening pleasure.
The world is a much better place for having Mary's beautiful voice.

[fotoguy]

hey wrote:

Thats a sad sad story. Are you still a druggie/burnt out hippie? Or have you finally "grown up"?

dickhead

[Mary fan]

I have such fond memories of her and her music. Was thrilled to have seen her in concert in the 60's. She was a role model for me in so many ways. My condolences to her family. Her legacy will live forever.

[Ken Hoffman]

Thanks so much, Alicia, for sharing some moments with your mother. I was deeply saddened to learn of her passing and I think about her often and shall for a long time. I loved her voice, her spirit and her committment to all that is good. My wife and I were very privliged to hear her in May at AMT in Pennsylvania and we were touched at how tenderly Peter and Noel were with her. Her life was a gift to us all. God bless you and your family in this time of great sorrow. You are in my prayers.

[hmmm]

oh boy