There Was A Boy, There Was A Girl — Nancy Freedman

The communications revolution began, with Bell's telephone, but it really went ballistic with the advent of radio in the early twentieth century. This is the story of David Freedman, dubbed the "Czar of Radio,"who wrote and directed the top comedy shows aired in the thirties: Eddie Cantor, Fannie Brice's "Baby Snooks, and many others. In one astonishing year, he also had three successful shows running on Broadway. It is also a love story. Beatrice, child of Russian immigrants, whose poverty-stricken parents found a way to save enough from their small business to buy her a second-hand violin. Determined to get an education and become a musician, she managed to be admitted to Columbia University, paying her way by washing dishes in the student cafeteria. One day, racing to work down the university steps, she knocked down a young man with his nose in a book. This was the start of a roller-coaster life that carried them to the heights of fame and fortune, then dumped them back below the poverty line, then lifted them to even greater heights of achievement. Through it all, their mantra was, "Together!" They strove to do everything together, work, play, children. That included their daughter-in-law, Nancy Freedman, who hereby repays her debt with this affectionate memoir.