Where Are the Protest Songs?

The goal of M4SC, says Stookey, is to build communities of listeners who will push for their causes — from the environment to world hunger to homelessness. An iPod app will link users to cause-based nonprofits in their area as well as relevant legislative efforts underway. "Where's the music about homelessness?" says Stookey. "How could I find the artists who did that music and then invite them [to help raise funds and awareness]? All of these aspects of integration of your concern and the cause in front of you are relatable through music."

Stookey and Stookey Sunde are in the fund-raising stage of a three-year plan to get M4SC up and running. Their father-daughter partnership has created a bond that transcends the family ties between Stookey, who lives in Maine with his wife Betty, and Liz, who lives in Vermont with her husband and two children.

"I am learning about my dad on an entirely new level," says Stookey Sunde, 46, a nonprofit consultant. "When you're 4 or 5 years old and you see your dad on a stage with thousands and thousands of people, it can be a daunting experience. Now that he and I are working together, he does the artistic part, and I get to bring my business acumen, my organizational skills and my sense of building community."

For her part, she views her work as a torch-passing. "He said to me more than 10 years ago, 'Liz, at some point I want you to take this over,'" says Stookey Sunde. "I said, 'How about now? You can be a mentor to the next generation right away.' So that's what we did. We're side by side as we move forward. It's a lovely awakening, I think, for both of us."