Rosenthal to Edit and Publish Pete Seeger Papers

Wesleyan Sociology Professor Rob Rosenthal has always had a love of powerful songs with a message.

"I grew up in a lefty family," Rosenthal said recently. "It's what we listened to at home. So when the music eventually made its way into the public realm, I was delighted."

So it's no surprise that Rosenthal has been chosen by Pete Seeger to comb through files of Seegers writings and letters from seventy years, to select and publish a volume of Seeger's work that has rarely been glimpsed by the public.

Rosenthal met Seeger while he was researching his book about protest and topical music, Playing For Change, which is due to be published this year.

At Wesleyan Rosenthal has always been an advocate of public involvement by students, helping to establish and manage the service learning classes in which students get academic credit for their work in real-life programs.

Rosenthal himself is a consistent advocate for justice for the homeless and poor. He has published several articles, and a book on homelessness, and works in the community to advocate for the poor and homeless on issues of housing and hunger.

Rosenthal will be a guest Friday at 1 PM, on Eye on the Air, the WESU-FM (WESU, 88.1 FM) pr and wesufm.org) to talk about his love of music, his upcoming book, and his work with Pete Seger.