Here I am with veteran songwriter Irving Caesar in his office in New York City. Lyricist Caesar co-wrote such songs as “Tea for Two,” “Sometimes I’m Happy,” “Just a Gigolo,” “I Want to Be Happy,” and “Swanee” (which he and his collaborator George Gershwin had a huge hit with in 1919). He also wrote “Animal Crackers in My Soup” and “That’s What I Want for Christmas,” which helped popularize a child actress named Shirley Temple.

Photo credit: William C. Nyman

After our interview, Irving and I posed in front of the window of his Brill Building office for this picture. Born in 1895, he was 83 years old at the time and still active writing songs. He never married, but he said his songs were like his children.

Photo credit: William C. Nyman

You may not know who the man on the right is, but I guarantee you know a musical creation that came out of his head. What song is played every Christmas about a four-legged creature with an illuminated proboscis? That’s right, it’s “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” and that’s the man who wrote it: Johnny Marks.

My interview with Johnny Marks took place at his house in Greenwich Village in New York City, and here he is at the piano. I don’t remember if he was playing “Rudolph” but he gave me a copy of the sheet music of the song and autographed it (see next photo). Johnny lamented how people always thought “Rudolph” had been around for centuries, like “Jingle Bells,” even though he had written it in 1949.

Photo credit: Harvey Rachlin

Here is an autographed copy of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" by its wonderful author Johnny Marks. Johnny wrote “To Harvey Rachlin — my friend, I have told Rudolph to make his first stop at your house this Christmas, Johnny Marks.”

The little circle scribbles next to the reindeer? Those weren't drawn by Johnny or me. Let's just say never leave anything valuable or important around where a small child with a pen can get to it.

Here I am peeking over the shoulder of Johnny Marks as he plays piano.

Here is Johnny Marks striking a pensive pose as he relaxes on his couch.

Granted, it’s a bit immodest of me to show this very nice letter to me from Johnny Marks, but I’m really proud of it. Note the red ink. Johnny seemed to feel he was inseparable from “Rudolph” and the buoyant holiday spirit of Christmas, and all the letters I received from him were typed in red ink.

This is me with Academy Award-winning lyricist Hal David at a songwriter’s workshop I conducted in Roslyn, New York. Among the hit songs Hal wrote with Burt Bacharach are “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head,” “Alfie,” “Do You Know the Way to San Jose?” “What’s New Pussycat?” “Promises, Promises,” and “What the World Needs Now Is Love.”

An autographed picture from the great Big Band clarinetist Artie Shaw. This was special for me because I play the clarinet also (but of course nowhere as good as Artie).

I was delighted to interview the great Motown lyricist Ron Miller for an article in The Songwriter. Ron was gracious enough to autograph two of his most famous songs. I think Stevie Wonder’s recording of “For Once In My Life” is one of the greatest pop records of all time.

Ron Miller had a smash hit with Diana Ross’s recording of his “Touch Me in the Morning.”

That’s Charles Strouse on the left, composer of the great Broadway musicals Bye Bye Birdie and Annie, as well as the iconic theme song “Those Were the Days” from the television show All In the Family.

Several years after the picture was taken, I coordinated a "Charles Strouse Day" at Manhattanville College, where stars associated with his shows performed, including Annie star Andrea McArdle, who sang Charles' song "Those Were the Days" with Andrea singing the Edith Bunker part and Charles singing the Archie Bunker part.

This is my first-ever television program — the Joe Franklin Show in New York. Here’s Joe holding up the book I came on to promote, The Songwriter’s Handbook.

Photo credit: William C. Nyman

Here I am making a witty point on the set.

Photo credit: William C. Nyman

After the show, Joe and I posed for this photograph. He was as nice and down-to-earth as could be. He was always telling you how great you are, and what’s wrong with that?

Photo credit: William C. Nyman

Another picture of me with New York City’s great talk-show host, Joe Franklin.

Here I am with Academy Award-winning songwriter Jule Styne. Jule wrote many great songs, including “People,” "Don't Rain on My Parade," “Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow,” “Three Coins in the Fountain” (winner of the 1954 Academy Award), "I'll Walk Alone," "I've Heard That Song Before," "It's Magic," "I Don't Want to Walk Without You, Baby," "Saturday Night is the Loneliest Night of the Week," "It's Been a Long, Long, Time," "Never Never Land," "Captain Hook's Waltz," “The Party’s Over,” "Make Someone Happy," "All I Need is the Girl," “Everything’s Coming Up Roses,” and “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend.”

Photo credit: William C. Nyman

Here’s the brilliant Jule Styne seated at the piano in his office.

Photo credit: William C. Nyman

”Let Me Entertain You”: I don’t remember if Jule played his buoyant composition when we sat down together at the piano, but it was an honor to be at the keyboard with such a musical genius. Oh, did I mention that Jule Styne wrote the scores for such Broadway musicals as Funny Girl, Gypsy, Gentleman Prefer Blonds, High Button Shoes, and Peter Pan? Well, you probably got a hint from some of the songs I just mentioned.

Photo credit: William C. Nyman

Here I am seated at the piano with Jule Styne.

Jule and me chatting. I’m sure he worked closely with all the stars pictured on his wall.

Photo credit: William C. Nyman

This is Jule, signing my Songwriter’s Handbook! I was proud to have back-cover endorsements from six Academy Award-winning songwriters, and I managed to get four of them to write inscriptions in one of my copies: Richard Rodgers, Jule Styne, Henry Mancini, and Burt Bacharach. Today, this is my most prized personal possession.

Photo credit: William C. Nyman

One final Jule Styne photo, who is pictured here with his lovely assistant Dorothy and me. Why is he holding up this particular score? Is it because it is his favorite musical show?

Photo credit: William C. Nyman

Here I am with four-time Academy Award-winning songwriter Sammy Cahn (who wrote the foreword to my Songwriter’s Handbook). Sammy wrote the lyrics to such songs as “Love and Marriage,” “High Hopes,” “Bei Mir Bist Du Schon,” “All the Way,” “Three Coins In the Fountain,” “It's Been a Long, Long Time,” “Saturday Night is the Loneliest Night of the Week,” “I've Heard That Song Before,” “It's Magic,” “I'll Walk Alone,” “Until the Real Thing Comes Along,” “My Kind of Town,” “Teach Me Tonight,” “The Tender Trap,” “Be My Love,” “Come Fly with Me,” and “Call Me Irresponsible.”

The great film composer and Oscar, Tony, Emmy and Grammy-award winner Marvin Hamlisch was incredibly nice to me, as you can see in this letter. I took him up on his offer to watch him scoring a film when I visited him and “watched over his shoulder” at his home in Bel Aire, California when he was scoring the movie Ice Castles. I was in California at the time for my appearance on Dinah Shore’s television program.

This photo taken off a television set came at the end of Dinah! whose theme that day was “Dinah and the Music Makers.” Seated from the left is me, Melba Moore, Karen Young, Dinah Shore, Fred Travalena and Peter Pringle.

Me with Dinah Shore on her national television show. The theme of the show this day was “Dinah and the Music Makers.”

Photo credit: William C. Nyman

In conversation with Dinah Shore.

Here I am in serious conversation with Dinah Shore on her TV show.

After appearing on Dinah Shore’s nationally-syndicated talk show with me, the wonderful comedian Fred Travalena was nice enough to autograph his press photo for me.

The next three photos, including the one above, are autographed pictures I received from some giants of twentieth-century American music. Pictured above is Broadway composer Richard Rodgers, who gave me a wonderful endorsement for my Songwriter’s Handbook. I wrote about my meeting with him in the Q & A on this Web site. Richard Rodgers wrote the music and Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II wrote the lyrics for many of the greatest shows in Broadway history including The Sound of Music, Oklahoma, The King and I, Flower Drum Song, Pal Joey, Carousel, and South Pacific.

Pictured above is Aaron Copland, sometimes called the “Dean of American composers.” He is a legendary concert composer and his many awards include a Pulitzer Prize and an Academy Award.

I am very proud to have this autographed picture from Big Band singer and radio and motion picture star Rudy Vallée. We corresponded for a time by mail—he lived in Hollywood, I resided in New York. In a letter to me of March 8, 1983, he wrote “I am curious as to whether you have any idea of what I meant to the popular song field from 1928 to…1947? As my great radio popularity grew from our broadcasts from the Heigh Ho Club, over three independent radio stations, I became the darling of the song publishing industry and then over our NBC network Variety Hour from ’29 to ’39, I broadcast five songs every week, bringing out at least forty great hit songs before anyone else did them! Berlin asked me to help him out of two year no hit period and when he played “Say It Isn’t So!” he says my recording and broadcast of it gave him the courage to begin writing again!!” The wonderful Rudy Vallée sent me lots of memorabilia related to his career, all signed. It was thrilling to have this correspondence with one of my music heroes.

Here is a signed letter from Richard Rodgers. I sent him many telegrams and this icon of American musical theater was always kind enough to send me signed letters in return. I treasure every letter Mr. Rodgers sent me.

Richard Rodgers sent me this letter after I congratulated him for being a recipient of a Kennedy Center Honor.

In the two years or so that I was in contact with Richard Rodgers I would remember his birthday each year. Here is another thank-you note from the immortal The Sound of Music composer. After meeting with Mr. Rodgers and sitting across from him one-on-one in his office at 598 Madison Avenue, I walked out of the building and looked up at the sky and said to myself “I just met a piece of history.”

I tried every which way to meet Irving Berlin or get his autograph. I tracked down his address in upstate New York with the hope that he would send me a signed letter, but received the above letter in return. Still, I treasure that letter.

Hard as I tried, I never got to meet -- or see -- Irving Berlin. But I took photos of his Beekman Place townhouse in New York City while he lived there. Here is one.

Photo credit: Harvey Rachlin

And here’s another one. I imagine Irving Berlin walked through this door many times. This photo and the previous one were taken in September 1986.

Photo credit: Harvey Rachlin

Here I am with songwriter Larry Weiss, who wrote such hits as “Rhinestone Cowboy” and “Bend Me, Shape Me.” We posed for this photo after I interviewed him for a magazine article.

Photo credit: William C. Nyman

I interviewed the members of the hit recording act Tavares, which lit up the charts with such hits as “Heaven Must Be Missing an Angel” and “It Only Takes a Minute,” for a magazine article, and they invited me to one of their shows. This photo was taken just before the show.

One of the banner days of my career was when I was given an ASCAP-Deems Taylor Award for my book The Encyclopedia of the Music Business. These awards are given for “excellence in music journalism.” The ceremonies were held at the offices of ASCAP in New York City in September 1982. ASCAP, which stands for the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers, is a music-licensing organization, and its members include many of the greatest songwriters in American history. Here I am with then-ASCAP president Hal David, where our attention seems to be focused in a particular direction.

Here’s another photo taken at the ASCAP-Deems Taylor Award ceremonies. At the left is the sensational ragtime pianist and inimitable vaudeville historian Max Morath, and in the center is songwriter Kay Swift, who had a big hit in 1930 with her tune “Fine and Dandy.”

Pictured with me here at the ASCAP-Deems Taylor Award ceremony is the amazing songwriter Kay Swift, whose “Fine and Dandy,” written with Paul James, has become a standard in the Great American songbook.

At the ASCAP ceremonies with Helen and Syde Berman. Syde was the publisher of The Songwriter’s Review, and he published the first articles I ever wrote, so I like to give him credit for launching my writing career.

When I was a freshman at Syracuse University, the Resident Advisor in my dorm was a grad student named Len. I was always struck by this baby-faced young man’s deep, resonant voice. It turned out Len was the son of Syde and Helen -- what a small world! Today, millions of people in the New York metropolitan area know Len Berman as the great sports anchor at WNBC-TV.

Here is composer Virgil Thomson seated at the ASCAP Deems Taylor Awards ceremony.

When I received the ASCAP-Deems Taylor Award, my mother, who was in attendance, beamed with pride. Here she is sandwiched between Pulitzer Prize-winning classical composer Virgil Thomson and songwriter Gerald Marks, whose hits include “All of Me” and “Is it True What They Say About Dixie?”

After winning the ASCAP Deems Taylor Award I managed to wangle autographs from Edward Eliscu (“More Than You Know”), Mitchell Parish (“Stardust,” “Deep Purple”), and the Pulitzer Prize-winning classical composer Virgil Thomson.

I had the great pleasure one day of knocking on the door of Otis Blackwell’s Brill Building office without even knowing it. The legendary songwriter of R&B and rock ‘n roll opened up to me right away and what he had to say was quite fascinating. It was just him and me alone in his office and I was so amazed by the stories he told me that I scheduled an interview with him, but for some reason that escapes me it never happened. See my article about this in Songwriter magazine in the Photos section here. Above is Otis’s business card that he gave me.

Here is an article I wrote about meeting the great songwriter Otis Blackwell in his Brill Building office.

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Wow, I always wanted to be on a magazine cover and James D. Liddane, the publisher of the Irish-based The Songwriter magazine made that dream come true when he put me on the cover of his wonderful magazine.

I always wanted to write songs for a musical and playwright Barbara Masry made that dream come true when she asked me to contribute songs for her romantic comedy Womansong.

A wonderful inscription from the legendary Bob Dylan.

Here I am with the legendary Tony Bennett.

Photo credit: Lou Stevens

On the left is the wonderful musician and songwriter Richie Havens, who performed at Woodstock and added to his fame with a quote he made about the Woodstock Festival saying it was not about rock and roll, sex or drugs but about love and peace and sharing.

Photo credit: Lou Stevens

That’s the very congenial Canadian folk singer and songwriter Oscar Brand on the left.

Photo credit: Lou Stevens

Here I am on the right with the great Big Band and jazz singer Arthur Prysock, who I invited through his wonderful daughter Jeanartta (a high school classmate of mine) to speak at Five Towns College where I was teaching at the time. Arthur made many great records but is also famous for his amazing singing of the famous Lowenbrau (“Here’s to Good Friends”) beer commercial. That’s Martin Cohen, an administrator at the college on the left.

Here I am with Senator Edward M. Kennedy at his office in the Russell Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C. It was taken after my book on the Kennedy family came out. Senator Kennedy showed me his fascinating family memorabilia in his office.

Me with Dave Carbone, the amazing detective I followed for my book The Making of a Detective. When Dave was working a case, he was always thinking ten or fifteen steps ahead, and it was hard to keep up with him. I can’t imagine a better subject for a book on the training of a sleuth in a big city. Dave is not only a great cop, but a great friend as well.

Photo credit: Frank Stewart

This is the squad room of the Seventy-fifth Precinct in East New York, Brooklyn. If it was empty, it meant all the detectives were out catching murderers. When I was there in 1992, there were more homicides in this five–and-half-square-mile precinct than any other in New York City — 129!

In the squad room was a holding pen. I once locked myself in there to see how it felt to be imprisoned. It wasn’t good! I was afraid the detectives weren’t going to let me out.

This photo was taken at an awards ceremony sponsored by the NYPD Retired Detectives Association. I am proud to say that I was honored this night along with veteran New York City television host Joe Franklin. Pictured from the left are Detective David Carbone, retired Detective Buda, Detective Tom Buda, me, Joe Franklin, and James Miley, president of the New York Police Department Retired Detectives Association.

It was in this office and at this desk that I wrote my first six books. Note the naked light bulb. If you think this office is messy, see the next photo for the office where I wrote my next six books.

See what I mean?

Here's a picture of my old office. Even in this digital age I am still very much a "paper person."

I always wanted to be on CBS’s Late Late Show, and so when my book Lucy’s Bones, Sacred Stones, and Einstein’s Brain came out, I called up the talent coordinator and talked her into booking me. I was packing for the trip to L.A., all excited about my big network appearance, when someone called to say my spot was being canceled because the star of a new movie was coming on to promote it. I thought that was the end of it, but a week later I got new airplane tickets in the mail. There were just two guests on the show that night: me and some comedian named Chris Rock. Here I am with the late Tom Snyder, the program's affable host, after the show.

Photo credit: Emile Barchichat

I was thrilled when my book Lucy’s Bones, Sacred Stones and Einstein’s Brain became a selection of the History Book Club.

Here’s the program for a Town Hall Series speech I gave at the University of Michigan.

Here is an advertisement for the premiere of History's Lost and Found on the History Channel, based on my book Lucy's Bones, Sacred Stones, and Einstein's Brain. The show was supposed to be a three-part mini-series but the ratings were so good that a green light was given to turn it into a full-fledged series. Another dream come true!

For making my dream of having a book make it to the small screen there are many people I would like to thank including the following: Charlie Maday and Susan Werbe at The History Channel; Bruce Klein and Maria Lane at Atlas Media; Glen Hartley and Lyn Chu of Writers' Representatives; and all the producers, writers and other contributors at Atlas Media.

Here I am on stage at Manhattanville College with Tom Hamilton on the left, the great bass player for the legendary rock group Aerosmith. Tom's wonderful daughter, Sage, was a student in one of my classes at Manhattanville and Sage was nice enough to get us permission to run a "Tom Hamilton Day" at the college. Tom was an amazing guest and all who attended will never forget that special day.