Founding Member of Peter, Paul, and Mary Dead at 86

Folk music fans got kicked in the gut today when the death of Peter Yarrow was announced.  

Yarrow was a founding member of Peter, Paul, and Mary.  

He was 86 years old.  

He’s Gone 

Several years ago, it was announced that Yarrow had bladder cancer.  

Four years later, that battle is now over.  

Bethany, his daughter, announced the death, stating, "Our fearless dragon is tired and has entered the last chapter of his magnificent life. 

"The world knows Peter Yarrow the iconic folk activist, but the human being behind the legend is every bit as generous, creative, passionate, playful, and wise as his lyrics suggest." 

Yarrow founded PP&M with Paul Stookey and Mary Travers.  

In the 1960s, folk music made a huge comeback thanks to entertainers like PP&M and Boby Dylan.  

One of the group’s top hits was “Pull the Magic Dragon.” They also wrote hits for other singers, with Yarrow and Stookey having written "The Times They Are a-Changin'" and "Blowin' in the Wind.” for Bob Dylan.  

Stookey, the only original member still alive, stated, "Being an only child, growing up without siblings may have afforded me the full attention of my parents, but with the formation of Peter, Paul and Mary, I suddenly had a brother named Peter Yarrow. 

"He was best man at my wedding and I at his. He was a loving 'uncle' to my three daughters.  

“And, while his comfort in the city and my love of the country tended to keep us apart geographically, our different perspectives were celebrated often in our friendship and our music." 

The group originally split in 1969 when Yarrow was accused of sexual misconduct with a minor.  

He pleaded guilty and served three months in prison.  

According to reports at the time, the girl, Barbara Winter, was seeking an autograph and had come to Yarrow’s dressing room. He pleaded to having "immoral and indecent liberties" with Winter.  

Several years ago, Winter was interviewed on the scandal, responding, "It happened when I was just an innocent child. 

"I didn't know anything. I was just a little girl that liked to play with her friends." 

Yarrow was far from alone in being a musician of that time who was having relations with underage girls, as both Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis, among others, had famous affairs with minors.