Leonard Gershe passed away on March 9, 2002. He was 79. He was a man of many talents and I’m honored to have known him. He was a playwright and screenwriter and lyricist. He wrote the hit Broadway play, ‘Butterflies Are Free’ as well as the screenplay for the film starring Goldie Hawn. Among many other writing credits, Leonard wrote the screenplays for ‘Funny Face’ (starring Fred Astaire and Audrey Hepburn) and ‘Silk Stockings’ (also starring Fred Astaire, this time with Cyd Charisse). Leonard was nominated for an Oscar for the ‘Funny Face’ script.

Leonard was fabulous company. He was witty, kind, and generous. And he was a pretty good poker player. I asked him to read an early manuscript of my novel ‘The Organ Grinders’ and he gave me one simple note that solved the book’s biggest problem at the time. An important piece of the protagonist’s background was somewhere in chapter six in the form of a flashback explained by the narrator. It was an unnecessary and confusing bit of story-telling gymnastics. I’ll never forget Leonard telling me not to do that. "Put all that at the start and show it, don’t tell it," he said. "I like to know what train I’m getting on." Of course he was right.

In the course of rewriting the book, Leonard and I exchanged a series of emails which evolved into a joke about turning the book into a musical-comedy for the stage. (‘The Organ Grinders’ is a satire of the medical bio-tech industry, specifically focusing on the science of xenografting, i.e., the transplantation of organs from one species of animal into another, e.g., when ‘Baby Fae’ received the heart of a baboon.)

After floating the idea of making it a musical, Leonard wrote the lyrics for the show’s main song:

When I’m at work
Or I’m at play
I hear those Organ Grinders say,
‘Have you got any organs today?’

When on the road
Or on the trail
I hear those Organ Grinders wail,
‘Have you got any organs for sale?’

‘We need some kidneys
A lung would be keen
Can you spare a liver
Or maybe a spleen?’

Oh, oh, oh, oh...
You’ll hear them cry
You’ll hear them croon
Whenever there’s a harvest moon,
‘Have you got any organs today?’

How’s your aorta?
Have you got any organs today?

Don’t leave me heartless
Have you got any organs todayyyyyyyy?!

Well, once he wrote that, we got into the following email exchange:

: I think a musical of ‘Organ Grinders’ is a fabulous idea. We’ve already got my sensational song and I think it would be great to use standards for the rest of the score. Can’t you see hearts breaking as Arty sings, ‘All of me. . .why not take. . . .all of me?

I see a terrific scene where a quartet of baboons lying on operating tables sing, ‘You’ve got me under your skin.’

Me: Yes, and Dr. Gibbs, in a new romantic sub-plot, could be featured singing, ‘Love is just around the cornea!’

Leonard: Perfect. And after Dr. Vines transplants Arty’s testicle into Jerry Landis, the show will get a big jolt of energy when Landis (along with trailer-trash gals Melanie and Tammy) do a rousing version of ‘Great Balls of Fire!’

Later, in a tender moment, Georgette -- alone on stage, under a single spotlight -- sings, ‘As lung as he needs me."

Me: Excellent! Then Arty gets his moment at center stage when he gets the Tony Bennett chestnut, ‘I left my heart (and several other parts) in San Francisco.’

Leonard: Finally, the show wraps with a great dance number set in a fantastic, grotesque dream sequence. In the scene, Lance Abbott takes a lung from Gene Kelly and a kidney from Fred Astaire while Eleanor Powell, literally, dances her heart out!

---

Honest to God, I think it would make a terrific musical. I may yet write it.

I’ll never forget something else Leonard once said. He had come over for dinner and there was a lamp in the living room that was turned off. He said he hated to see that because it made the lamp seem lonely. I’ll never look at a dark lamp without thinking of that -- and I’ll always turn the lamp on.

That way you can see what train you’re getting on.

Bye Leonard. We love you and we miss you.


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