P. F. Sloan, who wrote...

...“Eve of Destruction” in 1964 when he was just 19, died at age 70.

The song was a No. 1 hit for Barry McGuire (above) in 1965, but what I didn't know was that the U. S. Navy veteran:

...became a born-again Christian in 1971 and as a result renounced the song for many years, refusing to perform it. Though he is now known primarily as a singer of contemporary Christian songs, McGuire has resumed singing "Eve of Destruction" in recent years, often updating the lyrics to refer to such events as the Columbine High School massacre.

Mr. McGuire updated the lyrics when he performed at a reunion of folksingers, with the line about the 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches replaced by the words "Columbine, Colorado," referring to the student massacre of 1999. On March 12, 2008, McGuire appeared on the Australian music comedy/game show "Spicks and Specks," performing an updated version of "Eve of Destruction," with new lines such as "You're old enough to kill/ you just started voting" and "...can live for ten years in space." The reference to "Red China" was also removed, and in its place were the more generic "Now think of all the hate, still living inside us/ its never too late, to let love guide us."

Also, I didn't know the original recording included an "ahhh" where McGuire couldn't read the words.