For that piece, Mr. Yarrow, Mr. Stookey and Ms. Travers stood in with the New York Choral Society, which Mr. De Cormier directed from 1970 to 1987. Mr. Yarrow, Mr. Stookey and Ms. Travers had tried to hire Mr. De Cormier when they were starting out, in 1960. “Bob was our first choice,” Mr. Stookey said, “and we didn’t get him.” He was busy working with Harry Belafonte and the Belafonte Folk Singers. “You were trying not to be pursued by Joe McCarthy and his legacy,” Mr. Yarrow said. “I could do it laboriously, but he was a whiz,” Mr. Yarrow said.

Source: New York Times September 25, 2016 15:22 UTC