Pete Seeger

Folk music legend Pete Seeger led Occupy Wall Street protesters in song late Friday in Manhattan. Seeger, 92, had joined marchers on the Upper West Side earlier in the evening. When they reached Columbus Circle, he led them in a rendition of "This Little Light of Mine. " He was accompanied by his grandson, Tao Rodgriguez-Seeger, along with fellow artists Arlo Guthrie, Tom Chapin and David Amram. The musicians had all performed Friday night at Symphony Space on the Upper West Side and then fell in line with a crowd of about 1,000 demonstrators who marched down Broadway, according to the Associated Press.

For those who have been complaining that there are no protest songs in pop music right now, '90s icon Ani DiFranco serves up a well-meaning but predictable specimen in the title song to her new studio album, "¿Which Side Are You On?" With a contribution from activist folkie Pete Seeger, a marching snare-drum beat and calls for an end to financial corruption, why not cut to the chase and cull the lyrics from an Occupy pamphlet instead? Her heart might be in the right place, but it's better served by her nuanced, questioning mind in other songs.

A book by Pete Seeger about a young musician who loses his hearing and a wordless story about an underwater camera were among the winners of children's book prizes announced Monday by the American Library Assn. The John Newbery Medal for outstanding contribution was awarded to Susan Patron's "The Higher Power of Lucky," the adventures of a 10-year-old girl and her search for a higher power.

The colorful life and rich musical legacy of Woody Guthrie, widely considered America's greatest folk troubadour and songwriter, will be celebrated throughout 2012 in an expansive nationwide series of all-star concerts, previously unissued recordings, conferences, museum exhibitions and educational programs marking the 100th anniversary of Guthrie's birth. Guthrie's family, including his children Arlo and Nora, is collaborating closely with officials at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles in assembling "Woody at 100. " It will include a broad swath of activities that will take place from California to the New York island, from the redwood forest to the Gulf Stream waters — mirroring the words of "This Land Is Your Land," Guthrie's best-known song among some 3,000 he wrote before his death in 1967 at age 55. An overarching goal of the various activities is to introduce younger audiences to Guthrie's music and remind all listeners of his place in the long history of music as a powerful tool of social change, said Grammy Museum Executive Director Robert Santelli, who is overseeing much of the centennial planning with Nora Guthrie.

The autumnal feeling that descends over "Pure Pete Seeger" would seem to cut directly against the folk singer's lifetime of passionate commitment to the power of song and grass-roots activism. This was a man, after all, who rode the rails with Woody Guthrie, cajoled record companies and TV networks into paying attention to folk music when swing and Sinatra ruled, and endured the McCarthy era blacklisting scourge. Pete Seeger, even at 75, is not one to go quietly into that good night.

The San Diego school board has sent a letter of apology to folk singer Pete Seeger for the actions of school officials in 1960 who tried to cancel his concert at a local school because he refused to sign a loyalty oath pledging anti-communism. After the ACLU went to court to defend Seeger, the concert at Hoover High School went on as scheduled. A current school board member said she decided the board should send a letter to the 89-year-old Seeger after seeing him perform as part of the inaugural festivities for President Obama.

At 89, folk music legend Pete Seeger still has more to say. His latest release, aptly titled "At 89," is Seeger's first record of new material in five years and by Seeger's own account it will be his last. He doesn't expect to be playing many more concerts, either. "My brain is definitely, definitely going," Seeger says at one point out of frustration during a phone interview from his Hudson Valley home in Beacon, N.Y.

It's an election year, you might have noticed, and the air is filled with talk of new visions for America. But some of the old visions are still pretty fresh -- possibly fresher for having gotten so little use.

At some point during a special program tonight honoring labor movement and folk music figure John L. Handcox, headliner Pete Seeger will lead the assembled voices in song. In so doing, the pioneering folk singer and social activist, now 73, will enact the defining gesture of a long, varied and controversial career.

After 87 years, Pete Seeger's voice is down to a husky purr. The head once crammed with hundreds of songs can now call up, by his count, merely dozens. He still sings and plays banjo, though. He performs at churches, parties and -- what the heck -- on a ferry dock on the Hudson River during a recent interview. Commuters heading home from Manhattan look up at the lanky old man tapping his foot, plucking, and jauntily singing, "Ohhh, newspapermen meet such interesting people!" Some stop and smile.

Folk music legend Pete Seeger led Occupy Wall Street protesters in song late Friday in Manhattan. Seeger, 92, had joined marchers on the Upper West Side earlier in the evening. When they reached Columbus Circle, he led them in a rendition of "This Little Light of Mine. " He was accompanied by his grandson, Tao Rodgriguez-Seeger, along with fellow artists Arlo Guthrie, Tom Chapin and David Amram. The musicians had all performed Friday night at Symphony Space on the Upper West Side and then fell in line with a crowd of about 1,000 demonstrators who marched down Broadway, according to the Associated Press.

Irwin Silber, who became a key figure in the revival of folk music beginning in the 1950s as editor of the magazine Sing Out!, has died. He was 84. Silber, who was also a producer and wrote and edited several books on music and other subjects, died Wednesday at an extended-care facility in Oakland, his stepdaughter Nina Menendez said. He had Alzheimer's disease. Silber founded Sing Out! in 1950 with legendary folk singer Pete Seeger and others. It became an influential publication that covered 1950s stars such as Seeger and Woody Guthrie, then in the '60s included such upcoming artists as Bob Dylan, Joan Baez and many others.

'Banjo Fred" Starner, an economics professor and banjo-playing folk singer who documented hobo music and culture, has died. He was 72. Starner, of Winnetka, died Oct. 25 at a West Hills rehabilitation facility of complications from pneumonia and the autoimmune disorder sarcoidosis, said his wife, Barbara. "Fred Starner was very much a musician of the people, taking his cue from his mentor, Pete Seeger," said Mary Katherine Aldin, a folk music historian. "A great percentage of his concerts were benefits for causes in which he believed.

Mary Travers, the clarion-voiced female third of the quintessential folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary whose harmony-laden recordings of politically minded songs by Bob Dylan and Pete Seeger ushered them to the top of the sales charts in the 1960s, died Wednesday after battling leukemia for several years. She was 72. Travers, who had lived most of her life in a 250-year-old restored Connecticut farmhouse, died at Danbury Hospital, where her mother had been head of public relations for many years.

Pete Seeger has never paid attention to demographics or audience segments. His message has always been about inconclusiveness as a performer. And he's a performer in many senses of the word. "A musician, singer, songwriter, folklorist, labor activist, environmentalist, peace advocate," listed Tim Robbins at the start of an all-star gathering at Madison Square Garden last May to celebrate Seeger's 90th birthday.

In January, two days before the inauguration of Barack Obama, hundreds of thousands of people gathered on Washington, D.C.'s National Mall for a celebratory concert. After performances by Shakira and Usher, James Taylor and John Legend, Pete Seeger took the stage, with his grandson Tao Rodriguez-Seeger and Bruce Springsteen, to sing Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land." Wearing a plaid shirt, blue jeans and a stocking cap, Seeger beamed. "You sing it with us," he told the audience.

In January, two days before the inauguration of Barack Obama, hundreds of thousands of people gathered on Washington, D.C.'s National Mall for a celebratory concert. After performances by Shakira and Usher, James Taylor and John Legend, Pete Seeger took the stage, with his grandson Tao Rodriguez-Seeger and Bruce Springsteen, to sing Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land." Wearing a plaid shirt, blue jeans and a stocking cap, Seeger beamed. "You sing it with us," he told the audience.

It had the makings of an international incident. The banjo on which Pete Seeger recorded "Where Have All the Flowers Gone," and many of his other best-known tunes, was missing and presumed stolen. But on Monday afternoon, almost two weeks later, it turned up again. Jennifer Russell of the Clearwater environmental group, said Seeger's wife called and said the banjo had been found by a man who went on vacation before returning it.

For a 90th birthday, it felt more like a political revival, an old-fashioned revival meeting. And as he stood in the wings Sunday, watching a parade of folk and pop music royalty sing the songs that he made famous, Pete Seeger wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

The San Diego school board has sent a letter of apology to folk singer Pete Seeger for the actions of school officials in 1960 who tried to cancel his concert at a local school because he refused to sign a loyalty oath pledging anti-communism. After the ACLU went to court to defend Seeger, the concert at Hoover High School went on as scheduled. A current school board member said she decided the board should send a letter to the 89-year-old Seeger after seeing him perform as part of the inaugural festivities for President Obama.