In the fall of 2004 tragedy struck, and Mary began yet another battle. She was diagnosed with leukemia. After five weeks of chemotherapy, doctors told Mary:
"You were supposed to go into remission, and you haven't."
In April 2005 Mary received a bone marrow transplant, from a Republican named Mary. The transplant was successful. One month later, Mary was discharged from her hospital.
Seven months later Mary used a cane to limp onto the stage and join Peter and Paul to perform with the New York Choral Society at Carnegie Hall.
Through the years Mary has offered words of advice and encouragement that are pertinent today more than ever:
"Pessimism is a self-fulfilling prophesy, and apathy is one of the greatest dangers."
"All of us are subject to being passive to the social ills around us. It’s a struggle not to become, by staying silent, an accomplice."
"It’s important for young people to perceive that there are acceptable avenues of dissent, because we live in a world where dissent is hard-pressed; treated as if it were unpatriotic."
"We’ve learned that it will take more than one generation to bring about change. The fight for civil rights has developed into a broader concern for human rights, and that encompasses a great many people and countries. Those of us who live in a democracy have a responsibility to be the voice for those whose voices are stilled."
As Mary Travers notes of the trio:
"We've always been involved with issues that deal with the fundamental human rights of people, whether that means the right to political freedom or the right to breathe air that's clean."
Marys health problems have continued After her transplant she suffered knee problems, and underwent two surgeries on her back in 2007.
The last few years have been physically hard on Mary, and that shows. But her voice and her spirit remain strong. Physically, Mary has aged. Spiritually, she has not. Mary continues to fight on for a better world.
Even at age 72, Mary remains a fighter. Peter Paul and Mary performed in Hartford, Connecticut on September 28th. Mary was wheeled onto the stage with a supply of bottled oxygen nearby. And she performed. Magnificently. As Paul said after:
"Mary's ballad voice has never been more beautiful."
On November 4, the trio announced Mary has a lung infection. The remainder of the fall concert tour was rescheduled to 2009.
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