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From the death of folk music star Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary to good news from broadcasting legend Dick Vitale, here is this week’s news.
Peter Yarrow
Gai Terrell / Redferns via Getty Images
Peter Yarrow, part of the famed 1960s folk music trio Peter, Paul and Mary, died on Jan. 7, 2025, at the age of 86. He has had bladder cancer for the past four years, according to a report from the Associated Press.
Yarrow was also the co-writer of one of the group’s biggest hits, “Puff, the Magic Dragon,” featured on their 1962 album “Moving.”
“Our fearless dragon is tired and has entered the last chapter of his magnificent life. The world knows Peter Yarrow the iconic folk activist, but the human being behind the legend is every bit as generous, creative, passionate, playful, and wise as his lyrics suggest,” his daughter Bethany said in a statement, according to the Associated Press, which noted that alongside Noel Paul Stookey and Mary Travers, Yarrow charted six Billboard Top 10 singles and two No. 1 albums as well as won five Grammy awards.
With his vocal cords having been deemed cancer-free, ESPN basketball analyst Dick Vitale has been given the all-clear to return to work courtside, the storied broadcaster announced on Jan. 8 on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
“Just had scope of my vocal cords and I was very emotional with the great report by Dr. [Steven] Zeitels,” Vitale posted. “He said the vocal cords are cancer-free and he feels I can return to my love of being at courtside for ESPN.”
Vitale, 85, announced in December that he was cancer-free following a scan of a lymph node in his neck. He had previously announced in 2024 that he would be undergoing surgery to remove cancer from his neck, following a 2023 diagnosis of vocal cord cancer. His most recent cancer diagnosis was the fourth diagnosis he had received in three years.
Author Andrew Pyper, whose works included the thrillers “Lost Girls” and “The Demonologist,” died at the age of 56 of cancer complications on Jan. 3, according to a report from PEOPLE.
Daphne Durham, executive director of Putnam Books, described Pyper as “an inventive, surprising, and profoundly collaborative writer, who clearly loved telling stories” in a statement shared with PEOPLE. Durham edited two of Pyper’s final books including 2024’s “William” and the upcoming “Exiles,” both written under the pseudonym Mason Coile
“Everyone loved working with [Andrew] because he was such a pro,” Durham stated, “but he was also a delightful, warm, funny person.”
Pyper published 14 novels and earned honors including the Arthur Ellis Award and the International Thriller Writers Award, PEOPLE noted.
“Andrew was not done living, writing, raising his children or loving his wife but accepted his illness with tremendous courage and grace,” stated Pyper’s obituary. “Over the past year he often remarked how grateful he was, saying that if someone were to offer him more time, but a different journey, he would not trade any of it. He could not help but feel lucky for the life he had.”
Sports broadcaster John Giannone, the studio host and reporter for New York Rangers hockey broadcasts on MSG Networks, revealed on Jan. 7 that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer.
The announcement came during the pregame show prior to the Rangers’ game against the Dallas Stars, occurring on Hockey Fights Cancer Night at the team’s home of Madison Square Garden in New York City, according to a report from the New York Post.
“A month ago today I was diagnosed with prostate cancer,” he said, according to the Post. “It came after a routine yearly physical. A heightened blood test that led to an MRI and then finally a biopsy that produced the diagnosis.”
Giannone, the Post reposted, stated that his prognosis is “excellent” and that treatment is underway.
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