To the Editor:
Burt Bacharach has always been one of my favorite singer/songwriters, so when I heard that he was coming to my family’s home in Hanover, NH, I was thrilled. I was in between jobs and happened to be back home for a short time with my parents. My mother was a dedicated fundraiser for local politicians. She offered our home for wine and cheese and music afternoon for the benefit of Ted Kennedy. He didn’t come but his sister did and the music was going to be by Burt Bacharach.
Dad mowed the lawn and cleared the driveway of bicycles and kids’ toys to make room for parking. Mom had the piano tuned by a professional. She and I dusted, vacuumed, scrubbed, furniture polished, and did every other kind of cleaning we could think of.
The big day arrived. Lots of local Hanover people and quite a few from away also found their way to our house. Burt arrived dressed in an off-white Irish sweater and white slacks. He was really friendly and looked like he was going to a tennis match.
One of my favorites of his pieces was “Raindrops Keep falling on my head”, and he announced that was to be his opening song. Our piano stood against the living room wall, but Burt liked to face his audience while performing, so he pulled the piano out from the wall. Up went a cloud of dust, along with music lesson books that had fallen off the back of the piano (I am one of six children and I think we all had piano lessons in our early school years) and crayons, coloring books, etc, etc. Mom and I never thought to vacuum behind the piano. Her face turned red, but Burt took it in stride and put on a memorable show.
I don’t remember how much money Mom raised, but it was a fabulous time listening to and watching Burt Bacharach that I’ll never forget.
Kim Emmons
Paris
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