[Deathwatch] Mary Travers, singer, 72

[Deathwatch Central]

Mary Travers of "Peter, Paul and Mary" dies, age 72
Wed Sep 16

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Mary Travers, one-third of the 1960s folk trio
Peter, Paul and Mary who helped popularize the work of Bob Dylan and
sang hits such as "Puff (The Magic Dragon)," has died, aged 72, after
battling leukemia.

A statement on the group's website on Wednesday said Travers succumbed
"to the side effects of one of the chemotherapy treatments" she was
undergoing to fight cancer.

Bandmate Peter Yarrow said that in her last months, Travers handled her
declining health "in the bravest, most generous way imaginable."
Throughout her long career, he said, Travers sang with honesty and
complete authenticity.

"I believe that, in the most profound of ways, Mary was incapable of
lying, as a person, and as an artist," Yarrow said. "That took great
courage, and Mary was always equal to the task."

The New York Times quoted Travers' spokeswoman, Heather Lylis, as
saying the folk singer died at a hospital in Danbury, Connecticut.

Travers, known for her strong voice and long, blond hair, performed
alongside guitarists Yarrow and Noel "Paul" Stookey in one of folk
music's most popular acts.

The group's version of "Blowin' in the Wind" by a young Bob Dylan
helped transform the song into a civil rights anthem and introduced his
music to a wider audience.

The group also scored big hits with "If I Had a Hammer" and "Where Have
All the Flowers Gone?," co-written by folk artist Pete Seeger.

Along with "Puff," the group's other hits were "Lemon Tree," and
"Leaving on a Jet Plane."

The trio's members were also noted for their political activism. They
performed at the 1963 civil rights March on Washington and at
demonstrations protesting the Vietnam War.

Travers kept up her activism after Peter, Paul and Mary broke up in the
early 1970s. She performed as a solo artist before the trio reunited
later for benefits and other concerts.

Born in Louisville, Kentucky, Travers grew up in the Greenwich Village
section of New York City. She was influenced at an early age by Woody
Guthrie, the Weavers, Leadbelly and other major folk musicians.

"I was raised on Josh White, the Weavers and Pete Seeger," Travers told
The New York Times in 1994. "The music was everywhere. You'd go to a
party at somebody's apartment and there would be 50 people there,
singing well into the night."

Many thanks to Deathwatch Central for posting this obituary