April 9, 1928 –
… If, after hearing my songs, just one human being is inspired to say something nasty to a friend or, perhaps to strike a loved one, it will all have been worth the while.
Tom Lehrer, singer-songwriter, satirist, pianist, and mathematician,was born on this date. (Lehrer entered Harvard at age 15, having skipped several grades. Everyone applying for admission to Harvard was required to include an example of their written work. Lehrer submitted a long verse, in the style of W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan. The poem ended with the lines:
I will leave movie thrillers
And watch caterpillars
Get born and pupated and larva’ed,
And I’ll work like a slave
And always behave
And maybe I’ll get into Harvard…
The poem in its entirety appeared in Scholastic Magazine in 1943. (It was Lehrer’s first published work.)
Let’s all throw open the windows of our homes and shout “Happy 93rd birthday” while flinging out tainted bird seed in his honor.
And So It Goes
The Haus of Dcaligari 