A child prodigy in mathematics who graduated Harvard at just 19, his darkly prophetic and cynical show tunes won him a cult following in the 50s and 60s
Tom Lehrer, the acclaimed humorist and pianist whose satirical songs made him one of America’s favorite prophets of doom before he retreated to academia, has died, US media reported on Sunday. He was 97.
The singer-songwriter died on Saturday at his home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, his friend David Herder said, according to the New York Times.
Lehrer’s sardonic numbers, backed up by a dazzling prowess at the piano that reflected his love for up-tempo Broadway show tunes, enchanted audiences in the 1950s and 60s.
But Lehrer was always much more than the sum of his parts. A child prodigy, he graduated from Harvard at 19 and later taught at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
