In the Spirit

jbloustein — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 15:47:36 -0600

Every Lent my teenage daughters give something up—or at least consider it.

It’s the usual things. Chocolate. Pop. A favorite TV show. Once Lulu gave up meat. Last year, Charlotte renounced caffeine, a sacrifice she found especially challenging since it meant going without her beloved Earl Grey tea with milk and sugar.

Still, she told me, it was easier than the other act of self-denial she’d been contemplating: “no technology”—that is, 40 days without Facebook or texting.

A Song I Had to Give Away

admin — Tue, 01 Jun 1993 14:17:00 -0500

As a songwriter I'm naturally pleased when people recognize my authorship. When Goldie Hawn recorded my tune "The House Song" in the mid-1970s, it was as big a thrill to me as when "I Dig Rock and Roll Music," which I had a hand in writing, went Top 10 in the 1960s. But to this day the song I get the most credit for is one I didn't really write.

Music has been part of my life since I was eight years old. In high school I was encouraged to start my own rhythm-and-blues group, but when I moved to New York City in 1959, I had no entertainment career plans.

Faith & Living

In the Spirit

A Song I Had to Give Away