‘Peter Paul and Mary: Fifty Years in Music and Life’ - Trio collaborated on book looking back over 50 years of music with a mission

'Peter Paul and Mary: Fifty Years in Music and Life” chronicles the history of the famous trio as both musicians and activists. Filled with wonderful photography and a text written collaboratively by the three members of the group - Peter Yarrow, Noel Paul Stookey, and Mary Travers, with the late Travers' contributions drawn from her extensive writings - the book paints a portrait of an ensemble wholly invested in using music to help change the world.

There were those, of course, who wished the group would confine itself to singing songs rather than explicitly supporting causes. Some of the group's 'fan” mail, reproduced in the book, included sentiments such as this: 'So, by our being born Southerners here in Virginia, we were greatly conserned (sic) with your supporting the peaceful negro demenstrations (sic) in Washington a short time ago.”

The text never takes on a self-congratulatory tone. Rather, a deep passion for both music and social justice is on display throughout the book. There is plenty of humor in the book, as well, as the authors share various cartoon parodies of their songs (e.g. three bees identified as 'Peter Pollen Mary” singing 'Where Have All the Flowers Gone”) and their own onstage antics.

The oversized book makes for a somewhat ungainly reading experience, but it is also perhaps appropriate given the outsized impact the ensemble has had on music and culture. 'Peter Paul and Mary: Fifty Years in Music and Life” gently demands reflection on the ways in which music and principles can be combined to ask challenging questions and seek forward-looking answers.