There is a petition to nominate Pete Seeger for a Nobel Prize. Pete has been a tireless crusader for peace, social justice, and tolerance for his lifetime. As a member of the Weavers, he and the group were blacklisted during the McCarthy paranoia, and it was many years before Pete would appear on television as a result of that blacklist. When I was a young girl, trying to buy a guitar, I wrote him a letter seeking advice. He answered, hand-written in a rather elegant script, telling me the various things I should look for - and suggested a smaller, less expensive choice since I was only 13 years old and didn't know if I would like the guitar.
The campaign for Pete's nomination for a Nobel Prize will go on for a year, hoping to influence the committee for the 2008 nominations. You can sign it HERE.
6 comments:
I'm really glad you posted this. I read that there was a petition to nominate Pete Seeger, but I wasn't going to sign it because I want Al Gore to get the prize this year. I am so glad that this petition is for the 2008 nominations. I've signed it, and gladly.
How kind it was of him to write you back. Thirty years ago I wrote Bill Moyers, and he wrote me a very thoughtful letter back. Some people are just good-hearted all of their lives.
Thanks for the heads up DivaJood. I'm back online now. Hoping the tech problems are over now. Will have to see.
Wonderful story about your letter and Mr Seeger's response.
And thanks for the petition link.
thanks so much for this. I signed in a heartbeat! What a man he is, and consistently thoughtful and earnest in his public (and private I hear) life.
That letter he wrote doesn't surprise me, but what a delightful detail - he is a man of immense tenderness.
Signed it! I love folk music. I wrote to Ira Gershwin in the 70's about his brother George...I got a response back that I never expected. We all have our little treasures.
Post a Comment