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Article: IRVING BERLIN COMMEMORATIVE ISSUED TODAY; BERLIN WROTE MANY SONGS, INCLUDING "WHITE CHRISTMAS" AND "GOD BLESS AMERICA.".(Stars)(Column)
- Article from:
- The Post-Standard (Syracuse, NY)
- Article date:
- September 15, 2002
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of The Herald Co. by the Gale Group, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Jeff Stage Staff writer
He was born poor in Russia. He couldn't read or write music. He was insecure.
Yet, Irving Berlin became one of America's most popular and richest composers with a string of hits - many of them patriotic - that few can parallel.
I can remember meeting the postmaster general in the mid-1980s who was appalled to learn that there was no stamp honoring Berlin, who scored his first big hit at age 23 in 1911 with "Alexander's Ragtime Band."
The postmaster general said he was embarrassed to later learn that Berlin was still alive (U.S. policy calls for no living persons to be honored on postage stamps.)
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