ulture

Good-bye Pete:

Social activist & singer

passes away at 94

Tyson Kelsall

Culture Editor | ote-culture@unbc.ca

P ete Seeger sang labour tunes and jumped freight trains with Woody Guthrie and
Leadbelly in the 1940s, and attended the Occupy Wall Street protests, cane in hand,
in 2011. The American banjo-playing folk singers’ presence in social activism spanned

over eight decades.

For years the highly-principled, but gentle
mannered Seeger was blacklisted by
American authorities for his associations
with communism in the early 1950s. In that
time, however, he toured from campus to
campus to spread his message. Although
Guthrie did not pass away until 1967, he
was in bad health by the late 1940s.

It was Seeger who shared a glimpse of his
working-class songs with the American
student population. Seeger was also a
founding member of the Weavers, who
would later reach international fame and
success.

Seeger, not one to compromise his beliefs
for recognition, separated himself from
the band due their participation in a Lucky
Strike cigarettes commercial. In that
instance, he exchanged the lifestyle of a

highly paid pop singer for a musical career
built on the foundations of hardline ethics.

As reported by the New York Times, Pete
Seeger also sang at many anti-Vietnam war
protests. In the early 1960s, he adapted a
song called “We Shall Overcome,” which
became a sort of anthem at social justice
events.

On the 27 January 2014, Seeger passed
away in his sleep. His grandson told

the Associated Press that just ten days
before he had been chopping wood in the
backyard.

In addition to his role as a social activist,
Seeger was also an environmentalist. In
1969, he sailed the Hudson River with a

group of musicians demanding the river be
cleaned up. In 2009, General Electric finally
started clearing up the water they had
polluted.

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Seeger
ended up touring with the son of his good
friend, Arlo Guthrie. He wanted to show the
everyone that there was good, meaningful
music in the world. In 1994, he said, “the
key to the future of the world, is finding
the optimistic stories and letting them

be known.” Through song, many people
around the world have been touched

by Seeger’s faith in a better world. He
received many awards and accolades, with
recognitions ranging from Grammy Awards
to Cuba’s Order of Félix Varela.

‘Matt Petricone

On top of all of his crusading and populist
rousing, he was also a family man. His
wife, Toshi, passed away less than a year
ago in 2013. They had been married for 69
years, and he is survived by all three of his
children.

Seeger’s presence is already missed in many
circles, and undoubtedly within his family
and friends, but his music and words will

be remembered for a very long time. Seeger
had sung songs representing the people of
America since the 1940s, certainly he still
has lot to offer us, and the future. Good-bye
Pete, rest in power.