46 | MARCH 2 • 2023
ARTS&LIFE
REMEMBRANCE
O
ne of Burt
Bacharach’s hit
songs is “Message to
Michael.” My message to Burt
is gratitude for the life lessons
I have learned from him.
Burt Bach-
arach never
stopped creating
and composing
beautiful music.
He did what he
loved forever.
His life will
always inspire
me to never stop
doing what I love and with the
same compassion and dedica-
tion as when I first started.
In his memoir, Anyone Who
Had a Heart: My Life and
Music, he writes, “It’s impor-
tant that you visit your
worksite every day … I equate
it to being a tennis player on
the circuit. You don’t take three
weeks off and expect to get by
the first round at Wimbledon.”
And his work ethic was
maintained throughout his
songwriting career.
Burt Bacharach is one of the
most important and prolific
composers in history. He was
born in Kansas City, Missouri.
His parents, Bert and Irma
Bacharach, moved to Forest
Hills, Queens, New York, when
he was a child. Now for the
“six degrees of Jewish separa-
tion.” Our next-door neighbor
was his classmate at Forest
Hills High, and one of Burt’s
mother’s close friends was also
a close friend of my mother-
in-law, Annette Solomon. Her
friend was Jean Friedman, and
she loved talking to me about
Burt and gave me a photo of
him sitting on her lap!
Burt’s mother was the one
who encouraged him to take
piano lessons — he wanted
to play football. His father
played football and later
became a syndicated news-
paper columnist and author.
His column was a potpourri
of information, similar in style
to Danny Raskin’s column and
syndicated in the Detroit Free
Press in the 1970s, during the
same time his son’s music was
receiving international ova-
tions.
Burt Bacharach’s many acco-
lades include three Oscars,
seven Grammys, an Emmy and
the honor that made him most
proud, the Gershwin Prize
presented to him by President
Barack Obama in 2012.
His songs have been
recorded by more than 1,000
different artists. He stayed
current through the decades
collaborating with Dionne
Warwick to Dr. Dre. He wrote
more great movie theme songs
than anyone, including “
Alfie,”
Burt Bacharach will live on
in Linda Solomon’s heart.
Forever
and Ever
Linda
Solomon
Special
to the Jewish
News
PHOTOS BY LINDA SOLOMON