Dr Doran
My Mail is Forwarded Here
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Over Christmas, I saw my parents near Portland, Oregon, and met up with many Loungers, good times had by all -- but that is not what this thread is about.
My father, a relatively hale 86 years of age, finally put together his autobiography. He had been working on it for four years. As he was born in 1921, there was a great deal of vintage interest. The book is composed somewhat roughly but it is hugely fascinating. He was a classical musician (flute and piano) in the 1940s and he paints a picture of a frenetic scene of young musicians in L.A. trying to get work, playing gigs, skipping classes at USC, snubbing composers, finding love, mixing promiscuously, and attempting to escape the utter and complete obscurity in which the vast majority of them lived and died. These are young classical musicians, not jazz people, so it's not the sort of thing I'd read before. He spent the war in Long Beach playing in the marching band. He remembered every single name of everyone he played in e.g. a chamber quartet with. A (very) few became (moderately) famous.
The book also has color reproductions of letters and such that he had kept, including one from a guy he had met in the army that is written entirely in over-the-top mid-to-late-1940s jazz hipster argot, like something out of Kerouac but more extreme. It is one of the funniest things I have read and no sentence bears resemblance to normal English.
The later years are also fascinating. He gave Frank Zappa a concert when Zappa was a young unknown. He started doing magic in the 1970s and did shows for Tony Bennett and Englebert Humperdinck. He taught Arnold Schoenberg's granddaughter Marla the flute.
I'm very excited that my dad finally put this together. I urge all of you to get your grandparents or parents to do this. The final product of all his labors is quite beautiful, although rough in terms of proofreading from time to time -- but who cares? This is a possession for all time.
I don't have a copy yet, but when I get one, I'll scan some choice bits, such as the slang letter mentioned above ... I'll keep you posted if there is interest.
My father, a relatively hale 86 years of age, finally put together his autobiography. He had been working on it for four years. As he was born in 1921, there was a great deal of vintage interest. The book is composed somewhat roughly but it is hugely fascinating. He was a classical musician (flute and piano) in the 1940s and he paints a picture of a frenetic scene of young musicians in L.A. trying to get work, playing gigs, skipping classes at USC, snubbing composers, finding love, mixing promiscuously, and attempting to escape the utter and complete obscurity in which the vast majority of them lived and died. These are young classical musicians, not jazz people, so it's not the sort of thing I'd read before. He spent the war in Long Beach playing in the marching band. He remembered every single name of everyone he played in e.g. a chamber quartet with. A (very) few became (moderately) famous.
The book also has color reproductions of letters and such that he had kept, including one from a guy he had met in the army that is written entirely in over-the-top mid-to-late-1940s jazz hipster argot, like something out of Kerouac but more extreme. It is one of the funniest things I have read and no sentence bears resemblance to normal English.
The later years are also fascinating. He gave Frank Zappa a concert when Zappa was a young unknown. He started doing magic in the 1970s and did shows for Tony Bennett and Englebert Humperdinck. He taught Arnold Schoenberg's granddaughter Marla the flute.
I'm very excited that my dad finally put this together. I urge all of you to get your grandparents or parents to do this. The final product of all his labors is quite beautiful, although rough in terms of proofreading from time to time -- but who cares? This is a possession for all time.
I don't have a copy yet, but when I get one, I'll scan some choice bits, such as the slang letter mentioned above ... I'll keep you posted if there is interest.
