In case you missed it, last Sunday’s San Francisco Chronicle carried an article by Joel Selvin on his recent interview with Pete Seeger, giving some personal insight into the everyday life of the man behind the legend. Seeger was in town for an appearance with the Guthrie Family Tour.

Tickets go on sale March 30 for Pete Seeger’s 90th birthday celebration, a benefit concert at Madison Square Garden for the nonprofit Hudson River Sloop Clearwater. Emmylou Harris, Arlo Guthrie and Steve Earle are just a few of the many participating musicians. We’ll write more on this closer to the event.

Long-time civil rights activist and co-founder of the Freedom Song Network, Eleanor Walden has organized a petition to urge the American Friends Service Committee to nominate Pete Seeger for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Pete Seeger has been a crusader for Peace and Social Justice over the course of his 87 year lifetime. As a prominent musician his songs, messages and performance style have worked to engage other people, particularly the youth, in causes to end the Vietnam war, ban nuclear weapons, work for international solidarity, and ecological responsibility. It is time that a cultural worker receives the recognition that this work has great influence and global reach, that it is not only a medium of entertainment but of education, compassion and fraternity.

Of course Pete has never been alone in this work. He is the first to affirm that. But his unique sense of purpose, decency, and ability, and the support of Toshi and his family gave him the opportunity to be all that he could be. He is a role model and a guiding spirit, we are fortunate to have had him in our world. We can be influential in getting him nominated for the honor he deserves.

As cultural workers we know the power of the arts, we also know how difficult it is to gain recognition for cultural creation. Pete Seeger has gained recognition without compromise! Carl Sandburg called Seeger “the living embodiment of America’s traditions….” When Pete was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996 they said, “Pete Seeger’s contribution to folk music, both in terms of its revival and survival, cannot be overstated.” Pete was also honored by the Kennedy Center with its Lifetime Achievement Award in 1994. In 2001 they again paid tribute to Pete Seeger with a cross generational presentation. The program featured friends and family including Tao Rodriguez-Seeger, grandson of Pete Seeger, and Sarah Lee Guthrie, granddaughter of Woody Guthrie.” They described Pete as being, “Instrumental in popularizing the indigenous American song, his own compositions – among them ‘If I Had a Hammer,’ ‘We Shall Overcome,’ and ‘Where Have All the Flowers Gone’ (and ‘The Big Muddy’ ) have served as anthems for an entire generation.

It is important to honor our forbears, we all stand on Pete Seeger’s shoulders in a manner of speaking. We have an opportunity to acknowledge him a “father” of a cultural, social, and political movement, which enriched us all and in which we all share, as much as we share our paternal DNA.

I posted a petition on a site named petitionthem.com. The aim is grassroots influence to the American Friends Service Committee to nominate Pete Seeger for the Nobel Peace Prize. I know there are many people interested in adding support. I’m asking everyone to circulate the petition information to at least 5 other people asking them to notify 5-10 other people.

Eleanor Walden ewalden3@comcast.net

The petition can be found at http://www.petitionthem.com/default.asp?sect=detail&pet=3774

Pete Seeger and Paul DuBois Jacob’s book “The Deaf Musicians” has been awarded the Schneider Family Book Award for “books that embody the artistic expression of the disability experience for child and adolescent audiences.

“The Deaf Musicians” tells the story of a young boy who forms a jazz group with other deaf performers. who communicate through sign language, becoming a sensation for their nightly subway concerts.

MSN News: Pete Seeger Among Winners for Children’s Book Prizes

YouTube clip. June Carter and Johnny Cash on Pete Seeger’s mid 60’s TV show, Rainbow Quest.

The International Bluegrass Music Museum has acquired a banjo played by Pete Seeger through out the 1960’s.

Born May 3rd 1919, Pete Seeger is 87 today!

“..Well, I have worked at many things, and my main profession is a student of American folklore, and I make my living as a banjo picker-sort of damning, in some people’s opinion.” — Pete Seeger in response to a question from the House Unamerican Activities Committee, August 18, 1955

NPR has been airing a two hour exerpt from the May 15th concert held at the Keswick Theater as tribute to Pete Seeger and a benefit for Singout.

Pete Seeger is 86 today and still going strong.

There seems to be a movement afoot to arrainge celebrations of Pete Seeger’s 86th birthday across the US. The following note from Jean King was being passed around various email lists today.

FROM: Jean King in Hawai’i RE: Pete Seeger Celebration Aloha! The first Tuesday of May – May 3rd, 2005 – is Pete Seeger’s 86th birthday. Wouldn’t it be great if all across this land there could be concerts of Pete Seeger–associated songs, an outpouring of appreciation and affection, from New York Island past the redwood forests all the way to Hawai’iisland?! At some point in the concert everyone present would join in to sing: “Happy Birthday, dear Pete Seeger, Happy Birthday to you!” We hope here in Hawai’I to have at least one concert on each island. Public Radio here has already agreed to do a Pete Seeger segment on May 3rd. I hope when you reach out to musicians across the country there will be a resounding “Yes!” Anyone who knows or cares about folk music has at some point been touched by and enjoyed Pete Seeger. The time is short but we can do it. The concerts would, of course, be free and could be on a campus, in a town square, a park, an auditorium, whatever works for that area. They could be a half-hour, an hour, whatever. Perhaps there might be folks who would like to gather at home with friends to dine together and sing or play some Seeger songs – and wish him a Happy Birthday (complete with cake and candle?).

There is an email list and a web site at seegerfest.com .