Peggy Seeger --- a world-famous singer and songwriter, political activist and feminist whose recordings and writings number in the hundreds --- makes a fitting subject for this thorough, fact-filled biography. And though author Jean R. Freedman is careful to retain an objective stance, her book is also a tribute to Seeger's long life and many accomplishments.

Seeger was born into a musical atmosphere that undoubtedly shaped her destiny. Her father was musicologist Charles Seeger; his youngest son by his first wife was the larger-than-life Pete Seeger. With his second wife, Ruth, a musical composer, he had four children, two of whom were musically gifted --- Mike and Peggy. Like Pete, those two chose the alluring path of folk music, and for both it led to acclaim. 

"Peggy Seeger...makes a fitting subject for this thorough, fact-filled biography. And though author Jean R. Freedman is careful to retain an objective stance, her book is also a tribute to Seeger's long life and many accomplishments."

Seeger was an attractive child with an exacting mind, learning to read music at an early age. She recalls being "encouraged to do whatever I wanted," a liberal dictum that would lead the young woman to visit Communist China, resulting in her US passport being revoked. She was then forced to make England her home. There she met and was wooed by Ewan MacColl, who was 20 years her senior, and was an actor, singer, songwriter and rising star of far-left activism. The two were married and had three children, their remarkable partnership lasting until Ewan's death in 1989.

By that time, Seeger had shifted her focus from the undeniably masculine ideology that came by nature to Ewan, to what would evolve as a serious commitment to the feminist movement, though that interest certainly began when she wrote her signature song, "I Want to Be an Engineer," in 1970. After Ewan's passing, she had a female partner, Irene Scott. She moved back to the US for a time, and now resides in the UK where she is regarded as a political and musical icon.

Seeger’s craft was heavily influenced by Ewan and the Communist/Labor Party ideals he cherished, and both were devoted to the preservation of English, Scottish and American folk ballads. Together they performed in theaters, at rallies, and anywhere that protest was on the agenda. They were a loyal and mutually supportive couple; Ewan's gold record single, "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face," was famously composed for Seeger while she was away on tour. Their children --- Neill, Calum and Kitty --- have all participated in musical projects with their mother, especially in recent years, collecting and cataloguing her discography.

Freedman, who has a PhD in folklore from Indiana University, has been assiduous in recording the difficulties, detractions and occasional missteps in Seeger's almost storybook life. Still, her account will be welcomed by Seeger’s perennial fan base while providing a fair, thoughtful introduction to new admirers. One could envision this biography emerging as a docudrama, complete with stirring music from Seeger's multifaceted repertoire --- from her younger days as a pretty girl with a banjo and plenty of nerve, to her mellow later years as a noted expert in several fields, fine-tuned by time.