[Contrary to what you suggest, and many people believe], I
did not write "We Shall Overcome." Anonymous African-American union
members in the Deep South put it together.
What I did was to be so foolish as to let a publisher credit
me and several others with "adapting and arranging” it. The complete story
will be in my newly revised book, "Where Have All the Flowers Gone: A
Singalong Memoir," off the press next winter. I’ll send you a copy.
You'll be glad to know that all the royalties for the song
go to the "We Shall Overcome Fund," which gives the money out in
grants for music of black people in the South.
Hey — you put out a great little
magazine. Stay well, keep on!
Peter Seeger
Beacon, NY
2007
