Music Man

Chronicles the creation of Meredith Willson’s The Music Man—reprinted now as the Broadway Edition Composer Meredith Willson described The Music Man as “an Iowan’s attempt to pay tribute to his home state.” Now featuring a new foreword by noted singer and educator Michael Feinstein, this book presents Willson’s reflections on the ups and downs, surprises and disappointments, and finally successes of making one of America’s most popular musicals. Willson’s whimsical, personable writing style brings readers back in time with him to the 1950s to experience firsthand the exciting trials and tribulations of creating a Broadway masterpiece. Fresh admiration of the musical—and the man behind the music—is sure to result.

Rhyming, cumulative text adapted from a classic nursery song introduces six musical instruments, while glimpses through die-cut windows hint at who is playing each one.

Meredith Willson – America’s Music Man is a loving, thorough and accurate examination of one of Broadway’s great composers. It tells the story before, during and after The Music Man opened in 1957. The story of Willson’s family, his life in Mason City, Iowa, and his eventual rise to the top of the music world forms the platform that led to four musicals and dozens of awards. Also included are Willson’s activities scoring movies, directing orchestras on Old Time Radio, and even becoming a character on radio and television shows. This is the first in-depth look at the career of a real music man from north central Iowa.

Mark Cabaniss brings to life the rocky origins of this timeless show, the music behind it, and the against-all-odds success story of its creator. Interweaving behind-the-scenes perspectives, this book looks at Meredith Willson’s unusual career as a composer, conductor, radio personality, and flutist, which reached its pinnacle in The Music Man.

From Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin to Mick Jagger and Eric Clapton, from the Drifters and Bobby Darin to Sonny and Cher, Steve Winwood, and Phil Collins, the book bristles with anecdotes about the performers that Ahmet Ertegun, the founder of Atlantic Records, brought to greatness. Photographs.

As Dede Montgomery moves through grief to accept of the death of her father, the stories in My Music Man shed light on change, acceptance, and forgiveness amid close personal relationships and Oregon's natural landscapes. The reader is catapulted into autumn on the Willamette's riverbank in the 1960s with the author and her brothers, where they discover their father's own childhood stories and the intimate relationship he shares with the land. Tales about generations of family weave between time periods, held together by the constancy of place and colored by memories of picking berries and filberts, traveling through the West Linn locks, and swimming in the river on a hot summer day. Montgomery describes small-town life in a school where everyone knows everybody, and how it felt to be an only girl in what often felt like a never-ending sea of boys.

This fantasy novel is about an epic adventure, where a young boy, named Jimmy, meets someone extraordinary, Cornelius, who shares the same love for music as him. Cornelius introduces Jimmy to the piano that's in his attic. And from there, they go on to a magical parallel universe. Enjoy this work of mystery, fantasy, adventure, and science fiction.Without further delay, Enjoy......The Music Man

Dan Barker, ex-preacher and co-founder of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, travels widely, arguing in debates and speaking on his beliefs that Christianity is false, God does not exist, and the Bible is filled with errors and mythology. He has been touted as one of America's leading atheists. Yet close examination of his arguments shows that Barker's reasons for disbelief are poorly reasoned and miss the mark as they are aimed at a mistaken caricature of Christian theism. Answering the Music Man exposes Barker's misunderstandings of Christianity and provides compelling answers to Barker's arguments.