Confessions from a Reality Show Drama Queen: One of The Real World: DC housemates has admitted to faking cancer to get attention from a former boyfriend. Erika Lauren Wasilewski, a 22-year-old Illinois native and Columbia College graduate, pretended to be in a deadly battle against skin cancer to win back an ex flame.
The gossip [...]
REMEMBERING MARY TRAVERS
 Mary Travers |
American music has lost one of its strongest, truest voices with the passing of Mary Travers on Thursday September, 17. As part of Peter, Paul And Mary, she was at the forefront of the ’60s folk renaissance, inspiring millions of people to greater activism on behalf of racial equality, peace, and opportunity for the oppressed.
Surely one of the most successful folk trios of all time, Peter, Paul And Mary has been a loved member of the Warner Music Group family for nearly 50 years. Their 1962 debut album brought folk music of consciousness to the top of the charts and was monumental in launching the fledgling Warner Bros. Records label. Their unprecedented string of gold and platinum albums, hit singles, and Grammy Awards was truly astonishing.
Mary was always a champion for human rights. Along with Peter and Noel Paul, she performed at the March on Washington in 1963 where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his legendary “I Have a Dream” speech. They also performed in support of Cesar Chavez and the UFW at Carnegie Hall in the late 1960s and for strawberry pickers in California in the 1990s. They performed at national marches for women’s choice in Washington and demonstrated in support of the Anti-Apartheid Movement, committing an act of civil disobedience that led to the trio’s arrest in front of the South African Embassy.
Although society’s challenges have changed since the legendary day on which “If I Had A Hammer” rang out at our nation’s Capitol, the need to engage in the process of improving our world remains just as great, and Mary’s music and life will continue to inspire generations to come to improve the world in which we live.
Mary is survived by her husband Ethan and her daughters Alicia and Erika.
Statement from Joe Smith, Former President of Warner Bros. Records:
“When we signed Peter, Paul And Mary in the early ’60s, we knew they had great taste in material and a distinctive sound, but the clincher was the visual impact of this gorgeous blond woman and with these two bearded guys. The woman of course was Mary Travers and her talent was huge. The three argued a lot but, when the music started, they were very much together and Mary was the difference maker. Super bright, super talented, and a pleasure to know and work with.”
Thousands of residents in Mexico’s Baja California peninsula have ignored pleas to evacuate as Hurricane Jimena bears down on the region.
It has weakened to a category three storm but could still be near "major hurricane strength" when it makes landfall on Wednesday, say experts.
The US-based National Hurricane Center has warned of heavy rain, coastal flooding and mudslides.
Many shanty-town dwellers have stayed put, in case their homes are looted.
Some 10,000 families have been evacuated, but many others are still huddling in fragile shelters.
Howling winds
"Unfortunately we have families that are refusing to leave their homes, so if it becomes necessary, they will be evacuated by force for their own good," Francisco Cota, civil defence chief in the Mexican resort of Los Cabos, told AFP news agency.
Las Cabos has already been pummelled with howling winds and torrential rains, as tourists hunkered down in boarded-up hotels.
Jimena came close to becoming a category five storm overnight – the most dangerous there is – but weakened as it approached land.
Its maximum sustained winds have fallen to 125 mph (205km/h), but residents of Los Cabos were still uneasy.
"I’ve never seen a storm this big in the 23 years I have lived here," one told Reuters news agency.
Jimena is the second hurricane to pound Mexico this season. Hurricane Andres swept a fisherman to his death in Acapulco in June.
Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Erika formed in the Atlantic, east of Antigua and Barbuda, the National Hurricane Center said.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
