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Remembering Peter Yarrow

Remembering Peter Yarrow

From the desk of Executive Director, Liz Sunde

With the dawn of this new year comes the close of a chapter. As many of you know, Peter Yarrow, one of Music to Life’s lifelong friends, passed away yesterday morning. I greet the news with equal measures of sadness and purpose.

Peter was a ferocious and generous lover of life. He was a second father to me. He was an earnest listener, quick with irreverent humor, and a model of kindness – even with total strangers. He had a ruthless eye for beauty, fairness, and making things right (whether he was testing a microphone in a concert hall or singing to orphans in a war zone). He was strong to the end, willing himself to live beyond the odds, and opening himself, even in his final hours, to a stream of grateful visitors, and the recounting of music and many, many memories.

 

Throughout his life, as a passionate advocate for those in need, Peter welcomed a myriad of musicians who came to him for counsel on their changemaking journeys. His abiding belief in these largely “unsung” heroes helped Music to Life evolve into our current mission of service to socially conscious artists. I’m honored to have had his steady encouragement over the years, and know that his spirit will continue to grace and guide our work.

I believe that, all at once, Peter has the world in his arms. Untethered by physical limitations, his spirit now lives everywhere, and his love and care know no bounds. I’m going to be looking for him in every song that touches my heart, in every moment of random kindness I witness, and in the continued movements for peace and justice that I see every day, fueled by courageous musicians.

In other words, Peter will always be a candle that lights our way.

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