VAN WERT — Questions over appearances of music legend Peter Yarrow at
local schools were addressed Tuesday by the Van Wert Area Performing
Arts Foundation. Concern arose over the weekend of Yarrow’s programs in
schools given his criminal record. Yarrow was convicted of a 1969
incident of taking immoral liberties with a 14-year-old girl.
Paul
Hoverman, executive director and president of the Niswonger Performing
Arts Center of NW Ohio stated, “Yarrow was convicted and served a sentence
for the conviction. In 1981, Yarrow received a Presidential Pardon from
then President Jimmy Carter. Since then, Yarrow has spoken to nearly
22,000 school children all over the world about respect for each other
and most recently on anti-bullying."
In a conversation with the
Times Bulletin Tuesday afternoon, Yarrow described Operation Respect as
“An organization devoted to creating an environment for children in
schools that is loving and caring, respectful and in which violence,
bullying, ridicule, and disrespect is far less likely to occur. It is
very much a continuation of the work I did in the Civil Rights Movement
when respect or its absence was the critical reality in terms of racism
in our country. Today we find that children who are different are
targeted beyond those people who are targeted, there is a tendency that
has grown in the United States that had begun to accumulate even before
we started Operation Respect.”
The 76-year-old Yarrow will be
performing with his band Mustard’s Retreat at the Niswonger Performing
Arts Center on Thursday but earlier in the day, he is scheduled to
perform the program Operation Respect to elementary children in the
county.
Hoverman admitted that he and the committee were unaware of the 45-year-old incident when Yarrow was booked for the concert.
“Some
in the community have researched the past of Mr. Yarrow and discovered
an incident in his past from 1969 that causes them concern, particularly
since he is to speak to elementary school children in the afternoon,”
Hoverman explained.
“Peter spoke with me about the concerns of some of our community, and
told me that he has been working for 45 years to restore his reputation
from what he calls a terrible mistake in his life. He has taken full
responsibility for this mistake and has tried to make amends. It is the
good work Peter Yarrow has done with his programs to teach school
children to respect each other, and recognition of the international
pulpit he has developed over the years with national School Board
Conventions speaking out on issues of bullying that interested us in
bringing Yarrow to our area.”
Speaking with the Times Bulletin, Yarrow pointed out that he understands why some are questioning his performance.
“It’s
a sign of the times,” he noted. “I fully understand with (Jerry)
Sandusky and with the Catholic Church, but it is shocking to see that
this kind of real criminal behavior has been perpetrated against our
children. And in my case, I made a mistake in an era in which
unfortunately it was very common for us to be surrounded with
inappropriate attention from young girls, and I have very frequently
expressed not only my real sorrow and apology for having done this
because it was absolutely wrong, but I also went to jail for
two-and-a-half months and I was given a pardon by President Carter.
There’s a certain point in which you say, ‘I have paid my debt to
society, I have lived what I hope is a very caring, productive life, I
am deeply devoted to making the world a better place in a multitude of
ways,' and at a certain point there might be a time when people can say,
‘thank you for doing the work and continue it.’”
Yarrow, along
with Noel (Paul) Stookey, and Mary Travers made up the iconic folk music
trio, Peter, Paul & Mary which had a streak of hit songs in the 60s
such as, Puff the Magic Dragon, If I Had a Hammer, Blowin’ in the Wind, and Leavin’ on a Jet Plane.
“It
is because of his work with schools and many other respectful causes
throughout the world, not to mention some of the most beloved and
recognized music that he helped write and sing over the past 50 years,
that we decided to invite him to perform and speak at the Niswonger,”
Hoverman said. “It is the opinion of the committee that the benefit of
the planned presentation to our youth and the musical performance in the
evening will more than justify the selection of this performer.”