But I see in the future a crisis approaching that fills me with anxiety. As a result of the war, corporations have become enthroned, and an era of corruption in high places will follow. Seeger paused to let the importance of the quote sink in. Seeger has traveled with the great Woody Guthrie, sung in support of labor unions, was hounded and blacklisted during the Communist witch-hunts of the Fifties, was one of the founders of the folk music revival in the Sixties, sang in support of the civil rights movement and against the Vietnam war, and was one of the founders of the successful movement to clean up the Hudson River. Along the way, he has recorded about 60 albums and perhaps become the conscience of our country.
Little miracles happen all the time.
The Hudson River between Yonkers and the Catskills is clean, where 20 years ago lumps of this and that were floating along with the toilet paper. And if we keep pushing, it will be clean to swim in New York. In March of 1996, when we talked again, Seeger seemed more philosophical. I wrote to Harvard Magazine and asked if it was correct, and an expert found it in a letter of James'. The quote wasn't complete.