According to a family representative, folk musician Peter Yarrow, three-quarters of the renowned 1960s trio Peter, Paul, and Marydied Tuesday, and author of the ageless classic “Puff the Magic Dragon”
Four years prior, at the age of 86, he was diagnosed with bladder cancer.
Publicist Ken Sunshine told NBC News that Yarrow passed away in New York City with his loved ones by his side.
The final chapter of our brave dragon’s amazing life has begun, and he is exhausted. According to a statement from daughter Bethany Yarrow, the world is familiar with Peter Yarrow as the legendary folk activist, but the real person behind the myth is just as kind, imaginative, passionate, humorous, and smart as his lyrics imply.
Noel Paul Stookey, 87, is the only remaining member of Peter, Paul, and Mary after Yarrow’s death and the 2009 death of 72-year-old Mary Travers.
Songs by the trio were featured on the soundtracks of anti-Vietnam War and civil rights rallies.Based on a poem by the late Lenny Lipton, Yarrow co-wrote the group’s most enduring song, Puff the Magic Dragon.
When the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his well-known I Have a Dream speech at the 1963 March on Washington, the trio joined other well-known performers of the era, such as Joan Baez and Bob Dylan.
At Harry Belafonte’s request, they traveled to Washington that day.
“At the time, the country was saying a pledge of allegiance, ‘With liberty and justice for all,’ but it was fatuous because it wasn t for all,” Yarrow would later assert.
“Justice did not exist for people of color. They were not free. They were unable to cast ballots. People of color in Washington, D.C., were prohibited from using public restrooms. Use of the water fountain was restricted unless it was marked ‘for colored only.’ Therefore, it goes without saying that Peter, Paul, and Mary accepted Harry Belafonte’s approach. We sung what we sang because we were well-prepared.
“Lemon Tree,” “Blowin’ in the Wind,” “Leaving On A Jet Plane,” and “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right” were among the trio’s other hits.
As an only kid growing up, Stookey claimed that until he met Yarrow, he had no idea what it was like to have a brother. They attended each other’s weddings as each other’s best man.
“He was my three daughters’ devoted uncle. Furthermore, despite the fact that my love of the country and his comfort in the city kept us apart geographically, Stookey stated in a statement that our friendship and music frequently highlighted our divergent viewpoints.
“Although I was five months older than Peter, who became my imaginative, uncontrollable, impulsive, and musical younger brother, I also learned to appreciate and respect the wise, inspiring advice he gave me like an older brother. Peter, who was both politically astute and emotionally vulnerable, may have been the brother I never had, and I will miss him both terribly.
After being found guilty in 1970 of molestation of a 14-year-old girl in a hotel room in Washington, D.C., in 1969, Yarrow maintained a very quiet profile in his latter years.
Just before his term ended in 1981, President Jimmy Carter pardoned him after he had been imprisoned for three months.
Yarrow’s reputation was irreparably damaged by the assault, especially during the Me Too movement, when he was frequently turned away from events after his name became well-known as a performer guest.
His actions were not contested by Yarrow.
Following his rejection from a 2019 festival in Binghamton, New York, Yarrow stated in an astatement to the New York Times, “I fully support the current movements demanding equal rights for all and refusing to allow continued abuse and injury, particularly of a sexual nature, of which I am, with great sorrow, guilty.”
I cannot fully convey my regrets and sadness for the pain and hurt I have caused in this area, nor do I attempt to downplay or justify what I have done.
His wife Marybeth, son Christopher, daughter Bethany, and granddaughter Valentina are among Yarrow’s surviving family members.
In remembrance of Yarrow, his family requested that supporters donate to Operation Respect, a nonprofit that fights bullying.
“Driven by a deep belief that a more compassionate and respectful world is possible, my father has lived a cause driven life full of love and purpose,” said Bethany Yarrow. “He had a deep-seated belief that a collective singing performance could transform the world. Don’t lose faith in magic dragons, please. When we stop caring, believing, and singing, hope dies.
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