Another loss.

kingmisha at 2009-09-18 06:13 (UTC) (Link)

I've been away for some time at my cottage throughout August, and around town in Peterborough since I got back. I didn't miss blogging because I was painting a lot at the cottage (eight landscapes) and did a new sculpture once I got back. I keep adding to the mourning series instead of moving to another theme.

It seems so imperative to me to get this series out of my system particularly in view of recent events. Mary Travers of 'Peter Paul and Mary' was a woman I respected a lot. She applied her considerable talent to causes that mattered to me too. I did sometimes feel the group was a little light but that was the reason they transcended the folk music world into the popular market. They brought the messages of peace, hope, and racial tolerance to a much wider audience.

I particularly respected their unwavering opposition to the Vietnam War. Mary was also a strong feminist and performed without a hint of sex kitten about her. She was tall, angular and direct in appearance and performance. She was not severe though, often seeming quite gentle and funny.

I was a documentary film maker in the seventies, and involved with a variety of political, left-leaning groups concerned with freeing Civil Rights leaders like Angela Davis and Huey Newton, to ending the Vietnam tragedy, to affirmative action for women. It was a very intense and stimulating time when we believed we could change the world. In retrospect I believe we were the catalyst for change. Social upheaval contributed to the end to the Vietnam War and certainly hastened anti-segregation legislation. Artists like Pete Seeger, Joan Baez, Harry Belafonte, Miriam Makebe, Odette, Aretha Franklin, James Brown, Woody and Arlo Guthrie, Bob Dylan, and Peter, Paul and Mary helped wake people up and inspired us to keep the faith.

I was often invited to parties where I met like minded activists and sympathisers. I would host dinners at my place as well where everyone who came contributed funds to some cause like supporting Mc Govern for President or freeing Angela Davis. Meeting Mary Travers at some of these fundraisers would not raise a second thought. It was normal. We were the movers and shakers in the art world of that period.

Another Loss from Livejournal (Kingmisha)

I met Mary Travers in NY when we both were working on the same feminist committee for International Woman's Year. We were at a fund-raising house party on 5th Avenue hosted by some really wealthy women. We were both hiding in the coat room from too many intense women in one place. We talked for quite a while. She was quite shy, soft spoken, very striking and tall.
Another one of those encounters where we promise to keep in touch but then we never do. She used her talent to help others.

Thank you Mary.