Pete Seeger at the Garrison Institute in 2010
by Steve Kent
The world awoke to the news that Pete Seeger died last week, still somehow shocking and surreal even though he was 94. It never quite computed to imagine the future of this area without him and his wife Toshi, who died six months earlier. But now, suddenly, it’s here. Pete, whose Beacon, New York homestead where he lived for 65 years stands a couple of mountains north of us, was a generous friend of the Garrison Institute’s, performing at our opening ceremony in 2003, and at other times throughout our history.
In fact, he was a generous friend of organizations and people too numerous to count. His work and his guiding spirit pervade not only our part of the world, but our time in history, and his passing makes his gigantic presence if anything more deeply felt.
