Editing Peter Tork (section)

==Early life==
Tork was born at the former Doctors Hospital in [[Washington, D.C.]],<ref name=Monkeesbio/> in 1942,<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1942/02/28/archives/child-to-h-john-thorkelsons.html | work=The New York Times | title=Child to H. John Thorkelsons | date=February 28, 1942 | access-date=July 23, 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180723065325/https://www.nytimes.com/1942/02/28/archives/child-to-h-john-thorkelsons.html | archive-date=July 23, 2018 | url-status=live }}</ref> though many news articles incorrectly report him as having been born in 1944 in New York City—the date and location listed in early press releases for ''The Monkees'' television show. He was the son of Virginia Hope (née Straus) and Halsten John Thorkelson, an economics professor at the [[University of Connecticut]].<ref>{{cite web |author= Sherry Fisher |date= January 26, 2004 |work= Advance |publisher= University of Connecticut |title= Former Economics Professor John Thorkelson Dies |url= http://advance.uconn.edu/2004/040126/04012610.htm |access-date= February 29, 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110707022807/http://www.advance.uconn.edu/2004/040126/04012610.htm |archive-date= July 7, 2011 |url-status= dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date= April 29, 2002 |title= Thorkelson, Virginia H. (Straus) |publisher= The Courant |url= https://www.courant.com/2002/04/29/thorkelson-virginia-h-straus/ |access-date= February 29, 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131007072751/http://articles.courant.com/2002-04-29/news/0204280016_1_social-justice-wisconsin-ca |archive-date= October 7, 2013 |url-status= live }}</ref> His paternal grandfather was of Norwegian descent, while his mother was of half [[History of the Jews in Germany|German Jewish]] and half Irish ancestry.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1940/09/30/archives/marriage-announcement-2-no-title.html | work=The New York Times | title=Marriage Announcement 2 – No Title | date=September 30, 1940 | access-date=July 23, 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180723065423/https://www.nytimes.com/1940/09/30/archives/marriage-announcement-2-no-title.html | archive-date=July 23, 2018 | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author= Robert E. Kohler |chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=yAJxfeez5YwC&q=halston+Thorkelson&pg=PA205 |chapter= 8 |title= Developing American Science : Policies and Projects |pages= 204–207 |publisher= The University of Chicago Press |year= 1991 |isbn= 0-226-45060-0}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=MWSB&p_theme=mwsb&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB829FC48985680&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM | first=Nick | last=Carter | date=August 23, 1996 | title=Maritime Days sails back to port Seafaring fest carries a cargo of music, food and nautical pastimes | access-date=February 29, 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131006213125/http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=MWSB&p_theme=mwsb&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB829FC48985680&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM | archive-date=October 6, 2013 | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title= Belle Straus Weil |date= April 3, 1964 |url= http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/l/o/w/John-Paul--Lowens/FILE/0001text.txt |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131007042837/http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/l/o/w/John-Paul--Lowens/FILE/0001text.txt |archive-date= October 7, 2013 |df= mdy-all }}</ref>

Tork began studying piano at the age of nine, showing an aptitude for music by learning to play several different instruments, including the [[banjo]], [[acoustic bass]], and [[acoustic guitar|guitar]]. He attended Windham High School in [[Willimantic, Connecticut]], and was a member of the first graduating class at [[E. O. Smith High School]] in [[Storrs, Connecticut]]. He attended [[Carleton College]] before he moved to New York City, where he became part of the [[folk music]] scene in [[Greenwich Village]] during the first half of the 1960s. While there, he befriended other up-and-coming musicians, such as [[Stephen Stills]].