It is with heavy hearts that we share that our dear friend Stephen Lawrence passed away on December at 30th Clara Maass Medical Center in Belleville, N.J. He was 82. Stephen served as music director for FTB, and composed several songs for the project including the title track, with the late lyricist Bruce Hart. From Marlo's interview with NPR:

"He was adorable and fun, but he was very serious about the music," Marlo Thomas tells NPR. Free to Be... You and Me was "a project for children that was non-sexist and non-racist, and would give them a feeling of power, both boys and girls," Thomas explains.

She remembers when Lawrence and Hart first played her the title track. "They had called it 'Free to be you and me, Gymboree'—you know, lyricists love those little triplets," Thomas remembers, "And I didn't like the gymboree part, but I loved it right away. I loved the lyric. I love the idea of the horses running free, but the music was so perfect."

Stephen was truly a cornerstone of the entire project, and he will be dearly missed by all of us in the FTB family.