Course Description

Instructor: Bill Allen

E. Y. “Yip” Harburg (1896-1981) is not a household name, although he wrote the lyrics for many songs in what is now called “the great American songbook,” including “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime,” “It’s Only a Paper Moon,” , "April in Paris", “How are Things in Glocca Mora,” and important Broadway musical plays with a social or political bent, such as Bloomer Girl and Finian’s Rainbow.  Most notably, he helped write the screenplay and the lyrics for all the songs in the celebrated Judy Garland film The Wizard of Oz, which he said had overt social and political implications for the time. His strong beliefs got him blacklisted in Hollywood during the infamous McCarthy period in the 1950s.  But he continued engage in lively creative endeavors until his death.  Come with us as we listen to his songs and explore his life with its many triumphs, disappointments, and contradictions.  A truly American Story.

Bio: Bill began his lifelong generalist love of history, literature, popular culture, and musical theater while getting his history and English degrees at the University of Louisville. After teaching at colleges in Kentucky and Indiana, he studied at the University of London (Royal Holloway College) and received the Master of Philosophy degree in English Language and Literature with a 500-page dissertation on W. S. Gilbert (Gilbert and Sullivan). Later he received a Master of Librarianship degree from Emory and did doctoral studies in the Institute of the Liberal Arts where he wrote a long, well-received essay on American lyricist E. Y. (Yip) Harburg. He held a research and archives position in the CNN Library for 19 years. Since retirement, he says dramatic and lyrical writing and teaching his special interest courses at OLLI-Emory now give him great pleasure and satisfaction.