A musical phenomenon capturing America’s fancy during that Camelot period, just before Kennedy’s assassination, HELLO MUDDAH, HELLO FADDAH, Allan Sherman’s parody of “The Dance of the Hours” ballet, from the opera La Giocanda was a world-wide smash. (It made it to #2 on the Billboard Top 100, won the Grammy for best comedy performance, inspired books, a sitcom, a musical, numerous commercials, and has been translated into a multitude of languages.

Sherman, born Allan Copelon (1924-1973) was a tragic clown who died young from a combination of alcoholism, obesity, and diabetes. His career was a roller coaster which careened from being a successful TV game show producer to ignominious unemployment, then back up to the heights of comedy success as a performer, before plummeting back down to earth and to his early death at the age of 48.

Anyone who has ever attended a sleep away camp (as I did at Camp Snow Hill) can relate to this hilarious litany of mayhem, as well might the mothers and dads who may have gotten a summer vacation from parenting (but, also some separation anxiety). And, anyone who has ever attempted to write song parodies (me again - my finest hour being when Lewis Black performed my ditty “Candid Cancer” )- will count Allan Sherman as their Buddha - (his most notable descendent being Weird Al Yankovic).  Brilliantly subversive, irresistibly charming - Sherman was a comedic supernova.