Pete Seeger was an important person for the world and for me personally. His music and his life inspired so many to do good for the planet and for each other.
My personal connection is through my mother, Joan Welkowitz's side of the family. When Pete was young he was a frequent visitor to my Grandmother's home and to my Grandfather's store on the lower east side of Manhattan. My mother's brother, my Uncle Michael, played banjo and guitar and traveled with him before heading off to college and an academic life. He and other folk/activists from those days would visit my Uncle Lou and Aunt Shani's store, The Den of Antiquity, on McDougal Street in Greenwich Village, where as a kid I would sit on the stoop with their dog Denny and watch amazing people come and go.
My mother sang Woody Guthrie and Pete's songs to me as a kid and my sister and I sang them to our kids. At my parents funerals in Stockbridge, MA, we sang their songs to say goodbye. Pete Seeger made the world a much better place. He was an important person. We will miss him.