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Fwd: Benny Goodman



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
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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 

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