Peter Yarrow, of ‘Peter, Paul & Mary,’ Shared Enduring Love With Wife Mary Beth McCarthy

Folk singer-songwriter Peter Yarrow shared an enduring love with his wife, Mary Beth McCarthy Yarrow. The couple divorced but found their way back together and remarried.

According to The Associated Press, Yarrow co-wrote “Puff the Magic Dragon,” which is one of the iconic folk singing group’s best-known songs.

The couple was separated for 12 years before divorcing in 1991, McCarthy told the West Central Tribune in 2018. However, according to The Guardian, McCarthy and Yarrow remarried in 2022.

“We never lost respect or appreciation for one another. Our love was never extinguished. We didn’t injure the other irrevocably and no blame was assigned. As Peter often says, we remain more married than some people who are. I always say he’s my former husband, never my ex,” she told the West Central Tribune before the remarriage.

Yarrow passed away from bladder cancer on January 7 at the age of 86, the Associated Press reported.

According to the Associated Press, McCarthy was the niece of Minnesota Senate Eugene McCarthy.

Peter Yarrow & Mary Beth McCarthy Married at a Catholic Church in 1969

According to the article in the West Central Tribune, McCarthy and Yarrow married at St. Mary’s Catholic Church on October 18, 1969. She was described as the 21-year-old “daughter of Dr. A.M. and Muriel McCarthy,” and he was 31 and part of the already famous group.

“The ceremony featured the first public performance of Noel Paul Stookey’s ‘The Wedding Song (This is Love),'” the newspaper reported.

“The church was full. I have no idea how many invited guests. There were mom’s and dad’s friends and relatives, many who came from out of town. There were my high school classmates and Willmar friends. Dad was a prominent physician in the area with many acquaintances and that meant more people,” McCarthy recalled to the newspaper.

In that article, she described how she met Yarrow after the group wrote a campaign song. She was invited to stand up at a performance when the group sang “Blowin’ in the Wind,” according to the newspaper.

“Peter invited me to join him for dinner – it was always his want to invite lots of people to dinner. He gave me his phone number,” she told the West Central Tribune.

Mary Beth McCarthy & Peter Yarrow Had 2 Kids Together

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McCarthy told the West Central Tribune that she had two kids with Yarrow, Bethany and Christopher.

The story said she lived in St. Paul, Minnesota at that time, and was a film producer, including for a show on PBS.

McCarthy Yarrow has a Vimeo account.

Their daughter Bethany Yarrow wrote on Facebook of her dad, “He has kept his doctors in awe at his resilience as he has continued to perform and live life in his own generous and cause-driven way. It has been a long road and he has been a strong dragon.”