Mary Travers (of Peter, Paul & Mary) Dies at 72

By Amanda Pendolino on September 17th, 2009

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Mary Travers, one-third of the popular 1960s folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary, died yesterday at the age of 72, the Washington Post reports. She had been battling leukemia for several years.

Bandmate Peter Yarrow said that in her final months, Travers handled her declining health with bravery and generosity, showing love to friends and family “with great dignity and without restraint.” He continued: “It was, as Mary always was, honest and completely authentic. That’s the way she sang, too; honestly and with complete authenticity.”

Noel Paul Stookey, the other member of the trio, praised Travers for her activism, “especially in her defense of the defenseless.”

Travers joined up with Yarrow and Stookey in 1961, and the band released their first album the following year. Their biggest hits included “If I Had a Hammer (Where Have All the Flowers Gone?)”, which became an anthem for racial equality, as well as “Lemon Tree”, “Leaving on a Jet Plane”, “Puff (The Magic Dragon)” and “Blowin in the Wind”. 

While their songs were mainstream hits, the folk-revival group championed their liberal beliefs, including strong opposition to the Vietnam War. Over the years they won five Grammy awards, and, at one point in 1963, three of their albums were in the in the top six slots on the Billboard charts.