From The New York Times July 18, 2005
Metropolitan Diary Page A20 (Nice cartoon of Pete in paper version)
"Since I am a self-employed musician, I multitask. Recently, I went out to exercise with stops at FedEx, the drugstore and the post office on the way. After FedEx, I stopped at the drugstore where I shop all the time. I put my purchases on the counter, gave the cashier my credit card, and she asked for ID.
I put a padded jiffy bag I was going to mail on the counter as I looked in my bag - not my normal giant bag, since I was exercising. No ID.
The woman in line behind me had obviously looked over my shoulder and saw that I was mailing something to Pete Seeger, the folk musician. Without any prompting, she said: "Come on! Look - she's mailing something to Pete Seeger. He's the most honest guy in America. He cleaned up the Hudson River. I'm sure her credit card is good."
The cashier picked up the jiffy bag and showed it to the manager.
"Who is Pete Seeger?" he asked.
I explained that he had written the song "Turn, Turn, Turn" and that he had helped popularize the South African hit "Wimoweh" many years ago. I sang a bit of it: "In the jungle the mighty jungle/the lion sleeps tonight. . . ."
The manager smiled and said, "Yes, I know that song." To the cashier he said, "Her credit card is good."Christine Lavin"