Pete Seeger revealed as a real mensch in "The Protest Singer"

"The Protest Singer: An Intimate Portrait of Pete Seeger," by Alec Wilkinson

Knopf, 156 pp., $22.95

Fame is fleeting. There are likely generations of people who do not know who Pete Seeger is or are only vaguely familiar with what he did and does. That hopefully is in the process of changing. PBS recently aired an "American Masters" episode about him. A DVD of a concert he performed in Australia 46 years ago was just released. And now this slim yet evocative biography, "The Protest Singer," brings Seeger, the man, to life.

If you are unfamiliar with him, allow me to sum up what I know: Pete Seeger is a mensch. Literally translated, "mensch" means man. But as with so many other Yiddish words, it means much more. A mensch is an honorable, righteous human being, a stand-up guy. And when it comes to Seeger, it is true both figuratively and literally.

In the 1930s and '40s, Pete stood up for farmers and unions. In the '50s and '60s, he was there for the civil-rights movement. He fought to end the war in Vietnam, and championed every other "lefty" cause. But as Wilkinson points out, though Seeger was at one time a member of the Communist party, he is at heart really a conservative.

"He believes ardently in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. His interpretation of them is literal. ... There is no conceit he has more emphatically embraced than that all human beings are created equal. In the early and middle part of the 20th Century, such a conviction made a person not a patriot but a socialist."

Seeger's willingness to speak up for unpopular causes created both financial and physical peril. He cemented into the fireplace of his upstate New York home heavy stones that were thrown at his car as he was leaving a concert in 1949. He and the Weavers (a folk-singing group he founded) regularly had performances canceled at the last minute because of pressure from right-wing groups.

But the setbacks didn't deter him. He just slogged on, using his music to encourage others to join him:

"It's been my life's work to get participation, whether it's a union song, a peace song, civil rights or women's movement or gay liberation. When you sing, you feel a king of strength; you feel, I'm not alone."

"The Protest Singer" is a slim volume. There are a lot of photos and lots of space between lines. Most if not all of the story appeared in The New Yorker. Wilkinson has added 28 pages of Seeger's testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committee, perhaps to give the book more of the appearance of a book and less a magazine article in hardcover.

Despite the book's lack of heft, Wilkinson has done a magnificent job of creating a word picture of a man so principled, so virtuous, so pure, he stands as an example of human potential. Consider his testimony before the House Committee on Un-American Activities — or more accurately his lack thereof. Seeger refused to answer questions about his past. He didn't take the Fifth Amendment. He essentially told the representatives that it was none of their business. He fully expected to go to jail.

"I still feel I did no wrong, and that my children will not be ashamed of me in future years."

That is a mensch.