Peter Yarrow
Peter Yarrow is best known for being part of the folk trio Peter, Paul, and Mary. The group was very popular during the 60s and one of their most well-known songs is “Puff the Magic Dragon.” Peter Yarrow actually co-wrote that song with Leonard Lipton. He continued to write a number of hits for the group and their fame grew as some of their songs became anthems for the growing civil rights movement of the time. He even turned “Puff the Magic Dragon” into three CBS television specials.
Aside from his music he is an activist for a number of social and political causes. He coordinated a number of events as part of the anti-Vietnam war movement and the folk trio performed on stage during the March on Washington with Dr. Martin Luther King. He started Operation Respect in 2000 in order to combat bullying in schools. He has worked with a number of politicians on different causes including performing for volunteers for Barack Obama’s presidential campaign.
However, his choices were not always the best. In 1970, he was convicted of taking “improper liberties” with a 14-year-old girl. The young girl had come up to his hotel room with her older sister in order to ask for an autograph. He answered the door naked and made sexual advances toward the girl, stopping just short of intercourse. Peter Yarrow later admitted that what he did was wrong but that it was an “era of real indiscretion and mistakes by male performers. I was one of them. I got nailed. I was wrong. I am sorry for it.” He served three months in prison for the crime and learned his lesson.
In 1981, President Jimmy Carter bestowed a pardon on Yarrow for the crime. However, the incident continues to haunt the performer. In 2004, Peter Yarrow was set to appear at a fundraiser for a Democratic Representative but his appearance was canceled when an ad campaign run by the Republican candidate exposed Yarrow’s past crime. The pardon was somewhat controversial in that Yarrow’s apology was not quite accepted by some but still, numerous organizations have since recognized him for his contribution to social issues.
Sources For Further Reading:
White House History – The History of the Pardon Power
Smithsonian Magazine – A Brief History of 10 Essential Presidential Pardons
Mental Floss – Can a Person Refuse a Presidential Pardon?
Washington Post – Five Myths About Presidential Pardons
National Geographic Channel – The Contentious History of U.S. Presidential Pardons
NYTimes – Presidential Pardons Through History
ThoughtCo – Number of Pardons by President
USA News – A History of Presidential Pardons
Smithsonian Magazine – The Pardon
History Channel – President Ford Explains His Pardon of Nixon To Congress
Time Magazine – Michael Cohen Would ‘Under No Circumstances’ Accept a Pardon from Trump
USA Today – Obama Grants Clemency to Inmate — But Inmate Refuses
The Conversation – How the Mormon Church’s Past Shapes Its Position on Immigration Today
Hoodline – The Wayback Machine: When Patty Hearst Robbed a Sunset Bank