Ira Gershwin
A Life in Words
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The first lyricist to win the Pulitzer Prize, Ira Gershwin (1896-1983) has been hailed as one of the masters of the Great American Songbook, a period which covers songs written largely for Broadway and Hollywood from the 1920s to the 1950s. Now, in the first full-length biography devoted to his life, Michael Owen brings Ira out at last from the long shadow cast by his younger and more famous brother George. Drawing on extensive archival sources and often using Ira's own words, Owen has crafted a rich portrait of the modest man who penned the words to many of America's best-loved songs, like "Fascinating Rhythm," "Embraceable You," and "They Can't Take That Away from Me." These fruits of Ira's lyric genius sprang from the simplest of seeds: a hand-drawn weekly created for a cousin, an amateur newspaper co-written with friend and future lyricist Yip Harburg, columns in the school papers at Townsend Harris High School and, later, City College of New York. The details of his early literary efforts demonstrate both his developing ambition and the early signs of his talent. But while the road to becoming a successful lyricist was neither short nor smooth, it did lead Ira to the greatest creative partnership of his life. George and Ira Gershwin collaborated on a string of hit Broadway shows in the 1920s and 1930s that resulted in popular and financial success and spawned a long string of songs that have become classics. Owen offers fascinating glimpses of their creative process, drawing on Ira's diaries and other contemporary sources, as well as the close relationship between the two brothers. Hollywood soon beckons and the brothers head west to California to work in the movie business. Greater fame and fortune seem right around the corner. George Gershwin died in a Los Angeles hospital in July 1937. He was only 38 years old. His death marked a stark dividing line in Ira's life, and from that point on much of his time and energy was devoted to the management of his brother's estate and the care of his legacy. Accustomed to living in his brother's shadow, it now threatened to overwhelm him. He worked to balance all the administrative tasks with a new series of collaborations with composers like Kurt Weill, Jerome Kern, Harry Warren, and Harold Arlen. Ira's last Broadway work was in 1946, and several films and a book project--a collection of his lyrics with the stories behind them--occupied his later years along with the ongoing management of George's affairs. Ira Gershwin's work with George left an enduring mark on American culture, as recognized by the Library of Congress in 2007 when it established the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, which has been awarded to artists like Paul Simon, Carole King, Tony Bennett, Paul McCartney, and Elton John. In Ira Gershwin: A Life in Words, Michael Owen brings the publicity shy lyricist into the spotlight he deserves.
About this Author
Michael Owen is a historian, researcher, and archivist. He is the author of Go Slow: The Life of Julie London (2017), and the editor of the forthcoming volume The Gershwins Abroad. He currently resides in Port Washington, Wisconsin.
Reviews
"[Owen] give[s] this perpetual supporting player an infusion of main-character energy. He succeeds. Ira Gershwin: A Life in Words is dignified but not starchy, efficient but not shallow, and honest about grief's unrelenting toll.... Owen captures elegantly his survivor guilt, flying home for the grand funeral of his brother.... George Gershwin's presence in this book is not only spectral; it's almost holy.... Life's plodders can be as interesting and amusing, in their way, as the sprinters.... You feel deeply for the oldest Gershwin brother, who tended George's legacy like a faithful gardener."
"The reader comes away from Mr. Owen's Ira Gershwin: A Life in Words with a strong appreciation for all that the craft of the lyricist entails.... More important, at the close of Mr. Owen's biography one feels that one knows Ira Gershwin--knows him and likes him. In these pages we learn what the world thought of Ira Gershwin, what his co-workers and family thought of him, and, through Mr. Owen's careful mining of his subject's letters and diaries and pronouncements, what he thought of himself."
"Owen brings to Ira Gershwin a blend of meticulous research and an undisguised admiration for its central character. Ira is envisioned as an artistic genius whose personal fascination with languages, accents and human foibles have brought pleasure to millions over the years and will continue to do so.... Michael Owen's frank, fact-filled and up-close portrait of Ira Gershwin is a gift --- and an insightful reminder --- for a new generation of music lovers and creators."
"An authority on both the Gershwins, Michael Owen here explores the trajectory of Ira's career as one of the leading purveyors of words written for music."
"[A] celebratory biography... searchingly detailed."
"A masterful job ...The level of detail that Owen provides lets the reader see Gershwin's long life up close.... The reader gets to know Gershwin in his own words as he breaks down the difficult work of writing lyrics that not only had to stand on their own as poetry but also had to fit to the music of America's greatest composers. Throughout the text, the author shares details about several iconic songs and the artists who performed them. This biography is a worthy addition to the vast oeuvre of books about the music of the Gershwins."
"Now, in the first full-length biography devoted to [Gershwin's] life, Michael Owen brings Ira out at last from the long shadow cast by his younger and more famous brother George. Drawing on extensive archival sources and often using Ira's own words, Owen has crafted a rich portrait of the modest man who penned the words to many of America's best-loved songs, like "Fascinating Rhythm," "Embraceable You," and "They Can't Take That Away from Me.""
"Great reading for more than music lovers. This will be the definitive book on Ira for a long time."
"A vigorous biography that accords Ira Gershwin his due as a canonical American writer."
"Gershwin, originally Israel Gershovitz, was born in New York's Lower East Side in 1896, and Owen captures, in pungent details, the atmosphere of the city at the time--its smells and tastes, its sights and sounds, from horses' hooves to electrified trolleys...Owen presents an invaluable tribute to the iconic lyricist and his legacy."
"Lyricist Ira Gershwin (1896-1983) gets the due long afforded to his brother George in this meticulous account....Readers will be most captivated by the glimpses of a sensitive, complex artist that peek through the cracks....A fitting tribute to a vital influence on 20th-century American music."
"This book is a marvel and model of how to write resonantly and engagingly about a charming subject who was unintentionally elusive. Having personally known and adored Ira for years, I am overwhelmed by the information and detail Owen captures. I love the way he spins the tale of a greatly talented lyricist who, thanks to this book, might permanently find his proper place in the pantheon of great songwriters."
"In Ira Gershwin: A Life in Words, Michael Owen offers an insightful exploration of his subject's lifelong quest for an artistic voice. Using a rich variety of archival resources--personal letters, diaries, production notes, and business correspondence--Owen documents Gershwin's tireless commitment to songwriting, from the linguistic play of his teenage years and his prizewinning successes (and failures) as an adult, to his commitment to preserving the Great American Songbook and the Gershwin family legacy in his final years. The book is indispensable for fans and scholars alike. It shines a revelatory light on the complex life of the great lyricist who lived forever in the shadow of his younger brother George."
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