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For all his popularity, Stephen
Sondheim, born in New York in 1930,
remains an enigma. Many know the
composer of Sweeney Todd and
Company but few, including his
acquaintances, know the man.
Sondheim's taciturn, almost secre-
tive nature, is largely to blame. During
interviews, his speech is peppered with
irony and nimble wit — much like
the lyrics to his songs.
He's a tough nut to
crack, and his laconic
manner certainly
doesn't help to pene-
trate his armor-like
exterior.
Although there
have been a few books
chronicling the cre-
ation of his musicals,
such as Craig Zadan's
Sondheim & Co. and
Martin Gottfried's
Sondheim, a true
Sondheim biography
has been lacking —
until now.
Meryle Secrest's

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Sondheim's mother bitterly wrote
to her son in the 1970s: "The only
regret I have in life is giving you
birth." Those corrosive words effec-
tively ended their relationship, even
though her son continued to support
her to the tune of $80,000 per year.
When his mother died, Sondheim, an
only child, did not attend her funeral.
When someone who hadn't heard
about her passing inquired about her,

Stephen Sondheim

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9/25

1998

86 Detroit Jewish News

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(Alfred A. Knopf;
$30) attempts to
unveil the man whom
many, regard as
Broadway's biggest
talent — and its most
confounding puzzle.
The picture Secrest
assembles lacks a few
pieces, but her por-
trait is often revealing
nonetheless.
Secrest, who's writ-
ten biographies of Leonard Bernstein
and Frank Lloyd Wright, treads some
familiar ground, such as the surrogate
father role that lyricist Oscar
Hammerstein, a family friend, played
in Sondheim's life. Other matters are
more obscure, such as the rocky rela-
tionship Sondheim had with his
unstable mother, Janet Fox "Foxy"
Sondheim. A vain, cunning woman,
she made incestuous overtures to her
adolescent son for several years after
her husband left her for a younger —
and married — woman.

Sondheim said, "She's the same. Oh, I
forgot. She died."
An armchair psychologist could
have a field day with this Oedipus
story in reverse, but Secrest avoids dip-
ping too deeply into psychobabble. It's
no surprise that Sondheim has been
visiting a shrink since 1958.
Sondheim's concern with being a
homosexual was another demon to
wrestle. Like most gays in the '50s and
`60s, Sondheim kept his sexuality con-
cealed as best he could, for fear of