JEROME KERN - TYPED LETTER SIGNED 10/24/1944 - HFSID 27550

JEROME KERN
He signed this typed letter to a music publisher one year before his death
Typed Letter signed: "J. K.", 1 page, 7¼x10½. Beverly Hills, California, 1944 October 24. On personal letterhead to Miss Irene Gallagher, Chappell & Co., New York, N.Y. In full: "We really have to do something about this enclosure. I feel very guilty about the way I've stalled him off, and we've got to give him an answer, yes or no, sometime, so it might as well be at the earliest possible moment that the boss can see him for a half an hour. No matter what happens it won't be half as arduous and vexatious to him as was the recent imbroglio with Berlin, Bornstein and lawyers. Tell M.D. that if satisfactory arrangements can be made and reliable promises can be obtained, I would like to oblige Knopf and have him go ahead with his plan of a deluxe volume of J. K. material. Let me know that you have managed all this with your usual efficiency when the whole thing is fait accompli. Yours ever". Ironically, given Kern's professed embarrassment at the delays, the following typed note has been added at the top of the letter: "Mr. Kern neglected to enclose the mentioned enclosure - Irene." Composer Jerome Kern (1885-1945) has been called the father of American musical theater. His first musical, "The Red Petticoat," debuted in 1912. His most famous work, Show Boat (1927, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein) was the first US musical with a serious dramatic theme. His much beloved songs include "All the Things You Are", "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes", "Ol Man River" and "The Last Time I Saw Paris". In the 1930s, Kern redirected his talents to Hollywood films. "The Way You Look Tonight" from Swing Time (1936) won an Oscar as Best Song. Fold creases, not near signature. Fine condition.