Talking to Pete Seeger

Friday, September 25, 2007

If you need a lift, by all means see the new documentary Pete Seeger: The Power of Song which is touring the country and is now showing at Westgate in Madison for another week. Short of that, listen to my program with him which aired last Tuesday.

The man is 88 years old and he's still chopping wood! That's the first shot of him that we're treated to in the film: he's there in the woods, chopping wood in front of the log cabin that he built himself many years ago.

But what really impressed me, apart from the fact that his whole life rings true, is that he's so oriented toward the future. He drives an electric car; he hangs out with kids; he's optimistic about the changes we're likely to see in next few decades; he's out there protesting the School of the Americas; he still finds reason to love his country; his only regret is in not having supported his beloved's wife Toshi's artistic development. Most old people look backwards; only a very few, most of them visionaries, look forward. What a guy!