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As fate usually has it (lucky me), I was placed right next to him backstage. He was old and very frail. We hardly spoke.

At one point he spotted me reaching for my camera and, in a hushed whisper, he asked me to wait. He would let me know when to shoot. I waited. He started playing an imaginary piano keyboard on my leg, and singing quietly along with the singer on stage (I think the song was "Old Rocking Chair").

When it was time for him to appear on stage, I helped him out of his seat, and he took several steps, turned around, and right before my eyes he transformed from a sickly old man into a distinguished elderly gentleman. He gave me a little nod, and I snapped three shots with his approval.

Kay told me that those photos might be the last public images taken of him.



		Back in the late1970s, I accompanied Kay Starr who was performing in a tribute to Hoagy Carmichaelat Carnegie Hall. As fate usually has it (lucky me), I was placed right next to him backstage. He was old and very frail. We hardly spoke. At one point he spotted me reaching for my camera and, in a hushed whisper, he asked me to wait. He would let me know when to shoot. I waited. He started playing an imaginary piano keyboard on my leg, and singing quietly along with the singer on stage (I think the song was "Old Rocking Chair"). When it was time for him to appear on stage, I helped him out of his seat, and he took several steps, turned around, and right before my eyes he transformed from a sickly old man into a distinguished elderly gentleman. He gave me a little nod, and I snapped three shots with his approval. Kay told me that those photos might be the last public images taken of him.