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Show ( 1 f lx'-l2hL j A'ofes of a Netcspaperman: Story of a Song: Once upon a time (March, 1943) songwriter Johnny John-ny Burke dined at the home of Harry Lillis Crosby. . . . Gary, oldest son of Crosby, was spouting monosyllabic monosylla-bic thumb-noses at the principles of American education. In sum, he hated school. . . . Burke waved a worldly finger. . . . "My boy," he said, "you should be glad you're going go-ing to school. How would you like to be a fish? A fish can't read or write or go to ball games. All he can do is swim around and when he gets tired of swimming one way, he turns around and swims the other. oth-er. If you like that sort of life, you might grow up to be a fish." ... Mr. Burke was impressed with his own philosophy. ... He hastened to his partner, Jimmy Van Heusen, and repeated the dissertation on fish. , . . As a result, "Swingin' on a Star" was born and cast in "Going My Way," starring Bing. . . . Soon after the picture premiered the ditty made The Hit Parade and stayed on it for 20 straight weeks. ... It became a minor national anthem with kids who asked kin if they'd like to be a fish or a mule. . . . Clergymen used the theme in sermons, and Joe E. Lewis parodied: "Would you like to hang on a bar. with a dame like Hedy Lamarr?" ... Very soon a book on. the theme will be published. They may make a film based on its story, too. . . . Anyway, that's what came of a kid saying he didn't like school and why J. Burke and J. Van Heusen pay surtaxes. Ambassador to Brazil A. A. Berle's wife is known for her frankness. Recently at a dinner in Washington Mrs. Berle cornered cor-nered a Russian General and asked him a few pointed questions. ques-tions. The dialog went something some-thing like this his answers are in parentheses: "What is Russia's Rus-sia's present aim?" (to defeat the enemy). . . . "What are you going to do with Germany?" (Conquer her). . . . "And with Poland?" (liberate her). . . . "And what will you do when you arrive at the Rhine?" (Take a swim) . "We have jnst finished Noel Coward's Cow-ard's "Middle East Diary," and the following paragraph in it belongs herey considering Coward's recent "jam" over his comment in the book about Brooklyn soldiers. . . . "At ten o'clock," he observes, "I went to call on General Eisenhower. He combats untiringly the little cracks and lampoons and jokes spread by the British against the Americans and vice versa. I believe he even sacked an important member of his staff for making a minor contribution contribu-tion to this dangerous, subversive racket. One silly little man with one laborious joke can cause an incredible incred-ible amount of damage." Frank Munn called the American Album of Familiar Music cast together to-gether and said: "I just wanted to tell you a little story. Frank Hum-mert Hum-mert once approached me and offered of-fered a spot on this program. ... I asked, 'For how long do you want me?" " 'Maybe 13 weeks,' he said, 'maybe 13 years.' "I just wanted to tell all of you that tonight is the anniversary of my 13th year on the American Album Al-bum of Familiar Music." Munn holds no contract. A handshake hand-shake cemented the deal. The colyum's recent experience (because of an omitted comma in a telegram) recalls this one about a refugee college prof, dining in a restaurant res-taurant near Columbia University. . . . Speaking English with that acquired ac-quired precision which so often shames the native born, he ordered "figs and cream.'" . . . The waitress brought a dish of figs covered with cream. "I ordered figs and cream," he protested. "Well," she said, "there they are." "But," he persisted, "this is figs WITH cream!" "So what?" she so-whatted. "What's wrong with it?" "Madam," said the professor icily, "would you say a woman and child were the same as a woman with child?" Newspapermen will tell you that corrections sometimes are worse than the original story. . . . Thjs js a concrete example: "Our paper carried the notice last week that Mr. John Doe was a defective in the police po-lice force. This was a typographical error. Mr. Doe is really a detective in the police farce." Scrambled Eggs: Betty Hutton's stand-in is Marie Osborne, better known a decade ago as the famous child star, Baby Marie. . . . Helen Forrest, the thrush, has shelved 15 lbs. in two weeks, which is too fast . . . Before Clark Gable came to town Anita Colby askea him to phone her sister Francine when he got here He called her and said: "This is Clark Gable." . . . "Really ? re. plied Francine. "And this is Lana Turner!" And hung up! He never reached her. |