Seeger

By Dora Militaru
CNN & Entertainment Weekly Producer

(CNN) -- When I was assigned to do a story on Pete Seeger, I thought it a bit ironic that someone who didn't grow up here should attempt to tell the story of such an American hero.

Of course I knew "Guantanamera" "Turn, "Turn, Turn" "If I Had a Hammer" etc., because those are universal tunes sung by all generations and in all circumstances. Yet, like a lot of people, I didn't know they were Pete's creations. I didn't know he was so loved by kids, adults, famous musicians, etc.

I didn't know that Bonnie Raitt, Peter, Paul and Mary, Arlo Guthrie, and even Bruce Springsteen, who rarely gives interviews, would immediately agree to talk about the man who influenced their lives so much.

Most of all, I didn't know it was possible to be such a celebrity and yet such a human being, so modest, unassuming, generous and innocent.

We went to interview Pete in his log cabin in upstate New York and met him and Toshi, his wife for 56 years, the most serene couple you can imagine. Pete, young and fit at 80, was chopping wood. He couldn't understand why we should talk about him and was trying to bring the conversation to his most immediate causes -- and he has plenty of those, like cleaning the Hudson River.

During the interview he told us how he met Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and how "We Shall Overcome" was born. He mentioned the Russian book behind "Where Have All the Flowers Gone" ... he sang and played the banjo ... and he transported us to heroic times and places.

I came out of his house thinking how much nobler this country is with Pete in it.