6 December: Ira Gershwin

On this date in 1896 Ira Gershwin was born. He was a composer best known for his work with his younger brother, George. Some of their more famous works include The Man I Love, Fascinating Rhythm, Someone to Watch Over Me, I Got Rhythm and They Can't Take That Away from Me.

1. He was born on the East side of Manhattan and was given the name Israel Gershvin. He was always known as Ira, or Izzy and believed his name was Isodore until he applied for a passport at the age of about 32. His father's original name was Morris (Moishe) Gershovitz, but he changed the family name to Gershvin after emigrating to America from St. Petersburg, Russia.
2. Ira was the eldest of four siblings. He had two brothers, George and Arthur, and a sister, Frances. George, also a composer, became his collaborator and they worked together composing musicals.
3. He was a shy child who aspired to be a writer. In 1918, his short story The Shrine was published in Smart Set, an HL Mencken publication under the name Bruskin Gershwin (Bruskin being his mother's maiden name).
4. During his college years, Gershwin worked as a steam room attendant, a carnival helper, and a photographer's assistant.
5. Before long, he was writing song lyrics. His first published song was called You May Throw All the Rice You Desire but Please Friends, Throw No Shoes. When writing songs he used the pseudonym of Arthur Francis, from the names of his youngest brother and sister. He didn't publish under his own name, partly because he was shy and retiring and partly so people wouldn't get him confused with George, also composing at the time.
6. His earliest published collaboration with his younger brother was The Real American Folk Song, a tune they incorporated into a show called Ladies First.
7. He married Leonore Strunsky in 1926. The couple lived on the fourth floor of a five storey house Ira and George bought when their careers took off. The entire family lived there. The brothers sometimes left New York to get some peace and quiet and also to get inspiration and write. They spent several months at Chumleigh Farm, a rented estate north of New York, where they wrote the musical Strike Up the Band. The following year they went on a tour of Europe, visiting London, Paris, and Vienna. It was on this trip that George was inspired to write An American in Paris.
8. It's sometimes said that Ira, without his brother George, would have been content to be an accountant. He still got a chance to develop his inner accountant by managing the brothers' financial and business affairs.
9. Ira loved to listen to the mundane sounds of the world in general, and would write in his diary about the sounds he'd heard over the course of the day. One such entry read: "Heard in a day: An elevator's purr, telephone's ring, telephone's buzz, a baby's moans, a shout of delight, a screech from a 'flat wheel', hoarse honks, a hoarse voice, a tinkle, a match scratch on sandpaper, a deep resounding boom of dynamiting in the impending subway, Iron hooks on the gutter." He also enjoyed listening to loud Music, while his wife did not. He was delighted, therefore, when one of his neighbours brought him one of the first Sony Walkmans from Japan. He was so delighted that he called his broker and bought shares in the company.
10. Ira's work in film and theatre continued after George died. He worked with Kurt Weill, Jerome Kern, Harold Arlen, Burton Lane, Vernon Duke, and Harry Warren. He also took care of his brother's estate and started work on their legacy. He annotated their manuscripts and gave the Library of Congress all the materials connected to their careers. In 1983, Ira died in his Beverly Hills home at the age of 86.

My Christmas Novella!

A Very Variant Christmas

Last year, Jade and Gloria were embroiled in a bitter conflict to win back their throne and their ancestral home. This year, Queen Jade and Princess Gloria want to host the biggest and best Christmas party ever in their palace. They invite all their friends to come and bring guests. Not even the birth of Jade's heir just before Christmas will stop them.

The guest list includes most of Britain's complement of super-powered crime-fighters, their families and friends. What could possibly go wrong?

Gatecrashers, unexpected arrivals, exploding Christmas crackers and a kidnapping, for starters.

Far away in space, the Constellations, a cosmic peacekeeping force, have suffered a tragic loss. They need to recruit a new member to replace their dead colleague. The two top candidates are both at Jade and Gloria's party. The arrival of the recruitment delegation on Christmas Eve is a surprise for everyone; but their visit means one guest now faces a life-changing decision.

Meanwhile, an alliance of the enemies of various guests at the party has infiltrated the palace; they hide in the dungeon, plotting how best to get rid of the crime-fighters and the royal family once and for all. Problem is, they all have their own agendas and differences of opinion on how to achieve their aims.

Not to mention that this year, the ghosts who walk the corridors of the palace on Christmas Eve will be as surprised by the living as the living are by them.

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