Fwd: Benny Goodman

[MaxwellSt <MaxwellSt...>]

I forwarded the thread on Benny G. (not to be confused with Kenny) to one of 
our clarinetists, Ralph Wilder.  His reply gives an interesting family 
perspective to the question of whether Benny did or did not klez....(his 
reply below).
Lori
> --- Begin Message ---
> About Benny Goodman's "Jewishness" -
>
>     His sister told me, several years ago, that one of her big 
> disappointments was that when Benny became famous he basically left his 
> family and his heritage behind him.  His wife, from a very prominent 
> Protestant New York family, just didn't want to (or he didn't want them to) 
> associate with his 'greenhorn' family in Chicago.  She said that she and the 
> family always resented the 'shikse' who stole their famous (and rich) brother 
> - and he hardly ever saw her children - his nieces and nephews.  But, 
> nevertheless, she always supported him and relished in his success, albeit 
> from afar.  Mrs. Winsberg, who looked just like her famous brother, was a 
> font of information, but wouldn't allow me to go forward with my plan to have 
> her interviewed by music magazines, etc.  She is, I fear, no longer with us.
>     
>     Ralph Wilder 
>
> --- End Message ---