As an artist and activist, Peter Yarrow’s gifts are legendary. He has written some of the most moving songs that Peter, Paul & Mary have recorded, including “Puff, The Magic Dragon,” “Day Is Done,” and “Light One Candle.” This musical creativity has always gone hand-in-hand with Yarrow’s commitment to positive social change dedicating his time and talent over the years to equal rights, peace-building, education, preservation of the environment, and more. Just as Peter Paul & Mary used their music as a platform for advocacy, Peter has harnessed music to unite hearts in common purpose, knowing that when music brings people together, it has a unique ability to catalyze and hasten positive change.

Currently, Yarrow devotes most of his energies to Operation Respect (OR), an educational non-profit he co-founded 16 years ago that took its inspiration from a song, “Don’t Laugh At Me”, written by Steve Seskin and Allen Shamblin. Peter brought the song to his trio partners who, like himself, were brought to tears by its powerful message. The DLAM program focuses on creating safe, caring, bully-free environments for children and is currently utilized in over 20,000 schools in the US and other countries such as Ukraine, Israel, Jordan, Palestine, Hong Kong, Croatia, Canada and Japan.  Says Peter, “We need to educate the hearts of our youth, not just their intellects.  Our children deserve to be given the tools to become good citizens who care about, and participate in, efforts to make their country, and the world, a better place.”