Passages: Mercedes Sosa, Peg Mullen

Published 10:04 pm Sunday, October 4, 2009

Argentine folk singer Mercedes Sosa, the “voice of Latin America” whose music inspired opponents of South America’s brutal military regimes and led to her forced exile in Europe for about three years, died Sunday, her family said. She was 74.

Sosa was best known for signature tunes such as “Gracias a la Vida” (“Thanks to Life”) and “Si se Calla el Cantor” (“If the Singer is Silenced”).

Sosa had been in the hospital for more than two weeks with liver problems and had since been suffering from progressive kidney failure and cardiac arrest.

Sosa won Latin Grammy Awards for Best Folk Album for “Misa Criolla” in 2000, “Acustico” in 2003 and “Corazon Libre” in 2006.

Her latest album, “Cantora 1,” is nominated for three prizes in next month’s Latin Grammy awards in Las Vegas, including album of the year and best folkloric album. She recorded more than 70 albums in her lifetime.

Peg Mullen, a former Iowa farm wife and author who hounded the U.S. military for the truth about her son’s death in Vietnam died Friday at 92, her daughter-in-law said Sunday.

Peg Mullen’s daughter-in-law said Sunday that Mullen passed away Friday at age 92.

The La Porte City woman’s full-page ad in The Des Moines Register protesting the war and her marches in anti-war demonstrations put her on par with more notable protesters of the day.

Her 1995 book, “Unfriendly Fire: A Mother’s Memoir,” included 40 letters from her son Michael. He died at age 25 after a U.S. artillery shell fell short and killed him in 1970.

Associated Press