Monday, April 14, 2014

TOM LEHRER

There may be some of you out there for whom Tom Lehrer is an iconic figure, as he is for me.  My son, Patrick, sent me this link to a fascinating story about Lehrer, who is now 86!  If you read the story, I will point out that I was actually in the Physics class at Harvard for which he wrote the wonderful Physical Review, filled with songs impossible to forget [including a bump-and-grind vaudeville number titled "The Definition of the Derivative" with the refrain, "that's what they call dy/dx."]  Lewis Branscomb, mentioned in  the article, was my Physics instructor.  Lehrer appeared at the Freshman Union that same year and sang, among other things, a haunting romantic ballad with the unforgettable line, "The Father, The Son, The Holy Ghost, and you, baby."  Those were the days.

1 comment:

  1. He was a wonder. I must have memorized at least half his oeuvre. The buzzfeed story is interesting. Quibble: I don't that "dark" is the right word for his work.

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