Tue, 01/19/2010 - 09:05 — myrnag

Here we hope to inspire all risk takers with stuff to smile about and underscore the value of articles publicity in keeping in touch with their markets.  There is so much gloom and doom to cover.  Think of the daily drudgery of starting a business as a rainbow connection and you will achieve your dream.  This blog is the type of therapy even you, small business or startup guy, can afford.  So let’s begin:

Mary Travers Riverside Chapel Memorial

One would hardly think that a remembrance service is a positive beginning for smile therapy – but I speak of this one because it certainly was. Mary passed away from leukemia in September 2009, but when her birthday came around, Nov. 9, the people who had known her best celebrated in the true Mary tradition.  Today she was the cause.

At The Riverside Church in NYC, people packed the pews.  I think it filled the capacity of 1800.  Between the videos of people who couldn’t be there like Gloria Steinem, Bill Cosby, Arlo Guthrie and Harry Belafonte and the speakers who were…it was magical.  Heard from singers like Peter and Paul with their stories of the last days with Mary.  Nothing said throughout the evening was depressing, it was all uplifting.  Other singers included Pete Seeger, Tom Paxton, Theodore Bikel and Judy Collins.  Absolutely amazing.  The speakers were also amazing…Anne Meara, Jerry Stiller, Whoopi Goldberg, Sen. John Kerry and George McGovern to name a few.  Around in the audience, I saw producer Phil Ramone and his wife, Karen.  Annie Lebovitz looking for her seat.  Politicans Mark Green and former Mayor David Dinkins were seen there.  I am sure there were plenty more that I had missed (Maypang Nov.11, 2009).

I had seen Mary many times in concert with her stalwart companions, Peter and Paul, and the image remains sharp and impactful.  Mary swinging those long blonde locks emphatically while they harmonized about the cause of the moment in their anthems.

 As Whoopi Goldberg, comedienne and The View moderator, told the crowd about the famous threesome with whom Mary was identified:  They said:  "This belongs to you.   This land is your land.  If you don’t like what’s going on, get up and say something.  Get up and sing.  Get up and march.”

Peter Yarrow, a frequent visitor to the Cornell Club where in breakfast meetings he tells about his most current endeavor on the part of children’s charities stirring up interest, tonight spoke lovingly about Mary.  Paul Stokey expressed his continued adoration and devotion to the sex symbol of the sixties folk team. Indeed, he revealed that the reason she threw her hair was because she had stagefright, a tidbit that continues to humanize this swell gal through article publicity after her passing.  Then together they rocked the house with “Leaving on a Jet Plane,” the trios biggest and final hit together.

Still Mary continued well beyond the sixties to touch a chord in my own heart when she expressed her love for her daughter Erika, sweetly and adoringly in the John Denver hymn “For Baby” which she recorded solo.  I believe I first heard that song which brought tears to my eyes as she sang it to her own granddaughter on television.

For Baby (For Bobbie)
music and lyrics by John Denver

I’ll walk in the rain by your side,
I’ll cling to the warmth of your tiny hand.
I’ll do anything to help you understand,
I’ll love you more than anybody can.

And the wind will whisper your name to me.
Little birds will sing along in time.
The leaves will bow down when you walk by,
And morning bells will chime.(Lyrics and photo from “Shine A Light” Blog, “Thank You, Mary Travers)

Travers was a babe and an activist, and a mom and a grandmother, and a friend to the human race.  She sang out loud and clearly about her empathy with poor people, black people, anti-war people and young people.  A sendoff that included the legendary folk singers, the politicos, the feminists, her co-workers and friends and family was fitting and uplifting.  The human race remembered with a proper salute, a shout-out to Mary which she so well deserved.