Operation Respect
| Peter Yarrow | |
|---|---|
Peter Yarrow in 2008
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| Background information | |
| Born |
May 31, 1938 Manhattan, New York, U.S. |
| Genres | Folk |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter, guitarist, record producer |
| Instruments | |
| Years active | 1960–present |
| Associated acts |
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Peter Yarrow (born May 31, 1938) is an American singer and songwriter who found fame with the 1960s folk music trio Peter, Paul and Mary. Yarrow co-wrote (with Leonard Lipton) one of the group's greatest hits, "Puff, the Magic Dragon". He is also a political activist and has supported causes that range from opposition to the Vietnam War to the creation of Operation Respect, an organization that promotes tolerance and civility in schools.
Peter Yarrow was born in Manhattan, the son of Vera Wisebrode (née Vira Burtakoff) and Bernard Yarrow. His parents were educated Ukrainian Jewish immigrants, whose families had settled in Providence, Rhode Island.
Bernard (1899–1973) attended the University of Kraków (Kraków, Poland) and the Odessa University (Odessa, Ukraine), before emigrating to the United States in 1922 at the age of 23.
Bernard anglicized his surname from Yaroshevitz to Yarrow, obtained a Bachelor of Science degree from Columbia University in 1925, and in 1928 graduated from Columbia Law School. He then maintained a private law practice in New York City until 1938, when he was appointed an assistant district attorney under then Governor Elect Thomas E. Dewey. In 1944 Bernard Yarrow was recruited into the OSS, where he served with distinction.
After the war he joined Sullivan and Cromwell, the Dulles brothers' law firm. He was a founding board member of the National Committee for a Free Europe, an anti-Communist organization. In 1952 he became a senior vice-president of the CIA-funded Radio Free Europe, an organization he helped to found.
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