Mary Travers, Larry Norman and Pat Boone
Greetings folks,
As I write this, I was just informed that Mary Travers of the folk group Peter, Paul and Mary passed away yesterday at the age of 72. These age numbers are a bit mind-blowing to me.
The cause of Mary’s death was complications from chemotherapy associated with a bone marrow transplant she had several years ago after developing leukemia.
Some of Peter, Paul and Mary's many hits include "If I Had a Hammer", "Leaving On a Jet Plane" (a John Denver song), "Blowin’ in the Wind" (a Bob Dylan song), "Puff the Magic Dragon" (a kids' song written by Peter Yarrow and not about drugs).
My wife Nedra and I were friends to the other two members of the group, Peter Yarrow and Noel “Paul” Stookey. I had the great privilege of influencing Noel in meeting Jesus back in the late sixties. Paul calls me his “personal John the Baptist.”
I remember one night following a concert at Cornell University when Paul and I stayed up all night talking about who Jesus was and is. We also traveled together and did some concerts back in those days. Peter (who is Jewish) and I also enjoyed some lively discussions about the King of the Jews.
I also remember talking with Mary about the Biblical “woman at the well” as it was the theme of one of the songs in their repertoire. I have not seen or talked to her in many years. Mary had undergone a successful bone marrow transplant to treat her leukemia and was able to return to performing after that.
“It was like a miracle,” Travers told The Associated Press in 2006. “I’m just feeling fabulous. What’s incredible is someone has given your life back." She also said she told the marrow donor “how incredibly grateful [she] was.”
Here’s a couple of good obituaries on Mary from the New York Times and MSNBC:
Another friend from that same era Larry Norman moved on up to be with Jesus on February 2008 at age 60. Now a documentary is being produced scheduled to go into limited theatrical release in early 2010. Emmy-nominated director David Di Sabatino, takes a critical look at Norman's career and life in his documentary Fallen Angel: The Outlaw Larry Norman.
Larry was known as a righteous rocker who paved way for new genre of music.
• Larry was Christian rock musician before the genre existed
• His first solo album Upon This Rock came out in late 1969
• Norman's fans include U2, Guns N' Roses and Bob Dylan
• More than 300 versions of Norman's songs have been recorded by other artists
Larry Norman and I were friends. He spent part of his first honeymoon with my wife Nedra and me in Freeville, NY, back in the late '60s and early '70s where I had started a ministry in a barn called Love Inn (it’s still going today now called Covenant Love Community). Of course I played his music frequently on my Scott Ross radio show.
Larry and I traveled together and did concerts in coffee shops, bars, churches and auditoriums. He did the singing and I did the talking, and a few other things. The last time we were together a few years ago, we did a TV show together in Nashville, attended a Bob Dylan concert and stayed up most of the night talking. A few weeks later he sent me a number of Bob Dylan CDs I didn’t have in my library.
See you later friend; you are missed but your music leaves and makes memories.
Finally, here’s my interview with a man who is still with us, the original American Idol, Pat Boone. This is the complete interview.
And I’m “on the road again,”
Thanks folks,
Scott Ross