11- 1► IDIVY 11-101_111DAYS: Luck Was A Lady For A Guy Who Passed The Ammunition ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM ASSOC ATE EDITOR Photo by Ron Howes Q: I have been searching through- out the world for information about the Jewish composer who wrote one of the most popular war songs ever written, "Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition." Can Tell Me Why help me out? A: Call it sad, call it funny, but Amported shearlingsa. a (ways 3C%-5C% off regular retail prices Elegance Designs Crosswinds Mall • Orchard Lake at Lone Pine • (810) 851-2780 (810) 356-6013 AkAaf detiners Discount Prices = Reduced Value FREE, 20% off, $1 off, 3 for 2, etc. Many deals are offered but the fact remains that dis- counted prices are made possible only by dis- counted services. Only by offering less can a dry cleaner charge less. At MY Cleaners we never discount our service. One of the many reasons why knowledgeable customers say "MY Cleaners is my cleaners." Located on Northwestern Highway at 12 Mile Rd. (CLOSET COMPANY) INC. 626-5520 ealtek amass Foremost in Design, Installation and Service 30 Oat4i Anoqt it's better than even money that Tell Me Why has the answer to what you need, you need, you need, Tell Me Why has the an- swer to what youneed. The composer of that famous World War II tune was none oth- er than Frank Loesser (1910- 1969), probably best known for his musicals like Guys and Dolls. First produced as a play in 1950, Guys and Dolls later be- came a film starring Frank Sina- tra and Marlon Brando (Could there be any more painful sound on the face of the earth than Mar- lon Brando singing?). Two years ago, that Loesser gem made a comeback in a Broadway revival featuring some actor who actu- ally changed his first name to Nathan because he starred in the play as Nathan Detroit. But enough about actors. Loesser was born in New York and studied at City College, where he began writing music. While serving in the Army dining World War II, he wrote "Praise the Lord and Pass the Am- munition." After the war, Loesser moved to Hollywood and wrote for films and later the stage. Among his successes: Hans Christ- ian Andersen (1952), The Most Happy Fella (1956) and How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (1961). He won three New York Drama Critics Awards for best musical score. Q: Are there any Jews in the oil business? A: How about the physician by training and a businessman by nature, Mr. Hammer made a fortune in American trade with the Soviet Union, Russ- ian art and distilleries. In 1956, he bought the controlling interest in the failing Occidental Petroleum Company. Under his leadership, Occidental became the world's largest private- ly owned oil company. After Armand Ham- mer, Marvin Davis (born in 1925) of Den- ver was the biggest oil man in the West. With a fortune made in his Davis Oil Company, Mr. Davis entered the movie business. From 1981 to 1985, he was co- owner of Twentieth Century Fox. In 1932, Detroit's PHOTO BY GLENN TRIEST Max Fisher (born in Max Fisher 1908) joined the Auro- CI: What are the 'line Days"? ra Gasoline Company. In a few A: The Nine Days comprise the years, using Michigan crude, Mr. Fisher built Aurora into the period of mourning that begins largest independently owned oil on the first of the month of Av company in the Midwest. In and continues through noon af- ter the fast of Tisha B'Av. The Nine Days comes at the end of a three- week mourning (the "Three Weeks") for the destruction of the Tem- ple and represent an es- pecially intense time of despair. During these nine days, Jews eat no meat (except on Shab- bat), recite special lamen- tations, do no laundry, and refrain from getting haircuts, purchasing new clothing, swimming or having weddings. Q: The word "glitch," meaning an error or foul-up, sounds like it might be of Jewish origin. Is it? A: It sure is. Glitch is founder of one of the Yiddish for "slide," "slip" best-known oil compa- or "skid." nies in the world? In the early 1980s, A London Jew, Mar- "glitch" was used by a cus Samuel (1853-1927), Jewish computer sys- established the Shell Oil tems engineer to indicate Company in 1897 (the an error in a program. name was inspired by his From there, the word father, a prosperous deal- spread to general usage, er in shells and orna- joining several other Yid- Book Jews gather at the Kotel on Tisha B'Av to read from the mental shell boxes). In dishisms of English. 1903, his company of Lamentations. merged with the Royal 1959, Aurora merged with the Send questions to "Tell Me Why" Dutch Petroleum Co. In America, probably the best- Ohio Oil Company. Three years c I o The Jewish News, 27676 known Jewish oil man was Ar- later, Ohio Oil changed its name Franklin Rd., Southfield, MI 48034 or send fax to 354-6069. mand Hammer (1898-1990). A to Marathon Oil.Company.