Secretarially signed TLS. (“Irving per M.G.”). 1p. 4to. N.p., November 16, 1942. To Lyons.
“I received your wire. I wish I could help you out but have refused, so many times, to do a guest column that I am afraid you will have to let me beg off. It really is not up my alley, and I know you will understand. However, the phrase about ‘making the nation’s laws’ is wonderful and you should have someone else do it. Why not have a songwriter’s column, under that heading, and have each writer suggest a law that they would make. If you decide to do this, I would consider giving you one item, possibly in the form of a verse… P.S. Mr. Berlin was in for a few hours yesterday and dictated this letter. / Mynna Granat, sec’y”
Irving Berlin
Born Israel Beilin, the son of Jewish Russian immigrants on New York’s Lower East Side, Berlin pulled himself out of poverty through his unique songwriting abilities, eventually publishing more than 1,500 songs, starting with his 1911 hit “Alexander’s Ragtime Band” and the most famous of which are the enduring classics Always, God Bless America and White Christmas.
In the spring of 1918, Berlin was drafted into the infantry and assigned to Camp Upton, in Yaphank, New York. A thoroughly unenjoyable time, it nevertheless “proved to be a beneficial shock, for it gave him an entirely new range of experiences on which to draw for his songwriting,” (As Thousands Cheer: The Life of Irving Berlin, Bergreen). As an insomniac, chief among these despised experiences was reveille, Berlin’s hatred of which soon found expression in the rebellious tune, “Oh! How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning.” When the song became an immediate hit, Berlin decided to approach the camp’s commander about staging a vaudeville show for the amusement of troops not yet shipped off to fight in Europe. Years later, after the outbreak of World War II, the show was restaged on Broadway as This Is the Army, a fundraiser for the military which opened July 4, 1942. Wildly successful, This Is the Army, was turned into a film in 1943.
Our letter conveys greetings from Berlin’s wife, Ellin Berlin (née Mackay, 1903-1988), an Irish-Catholic heiress whose elopement with Berlin was widely covered in the press.
Like Berlin, Lyons was born to Jewish immigrants living on the Lower East Side. Although he began his career as a lawyer, Lyons earned a reputation as a journalist, first writing for the Jewish Daily Forward and, later as Broadway columnist for the New York Post (where the editor advised him to change his last name from Sucher to Lyons). From 1934-1974, Lyons penned 12,000 individual columns for his “The Lyons Den,” a New York institution eventually syndicated by King Features.
Letters are folded with normal wear and light staining. In very good condition.
