Stewart, Lawrence D. (Lawrence Delbert), 1926-

Edward Jablonski was born in 1922 in Bay City, Michigan. His love for the music and lyrics of the Gershwin brothers began as a teenager. Jablonski initiated his correspondence with Ira Gershwin with a fan letter which began a life long friendship. From 1942 to 1946 Jablonski served in World War II as a member of the U.S. Army Field Artillery Corp. After the war he moved to New York City to launch his writing and music career. In 1949 he helped found Walden Records which specialized in American music and in 1950 he completed his B.A. at the New School for Social Research. In 1951 he also did graduate work in anthropology at Columbia University.

His first article, on the exiled Hungarian composer Bela Bartok, appeared in Twelfth Street, a small literary magazine. Throughout his career he contributed to such periodicals as Saturday Review, American Record Guide, and Stereo Review. In 1958 he co-authored, with Lawrence D. Stewart, The Gershwin Years, which brought together many previously unavailable materials from the personal archives of Ira Gershwin and many of the Gershwins' friends and associates. The authors also compiled a comprehensive bibliography of songs and lyrics, with their first performance dates. This book contributes to research in American popular music of the Jazz Age and the Gershwin brothers.

...