Pat Butler posted to another board offering a free copy of either of her books
oif you can tell her who Herb Bernstein is in relationship to Barry......
Already guessed that it was Edna's sister Rose's husband and she replied that
that wasn't even close....anyone else have a guess?????
Carol K

I'm happy you posted this here, but what's with the hostile header?  Obviously
the question has an answer. It just wasn't the answer you guessed.

Two more guesses...

1)  Herb Bernstein was a musical director in the Catskills.  Did he work with
Barry there?
2)  Herb Bernstein booked some gigs for Barry at one point.  He did or does
does do mangement/agent work.

Sue

Hey there folks.

Just wondering what the heck is happening in the world of Barry Manilow.
The newds group seems to have gone really quiet recently too.
Can any one help???
cheers

Kris Byrne (U.K)

1) Nope
2) Nope

Good guesses, both of them.  It's actually a much earlier and surprising -- at
least I was really surprised -- connection.  Should I just tell you?  

Patricia

http://www.AngelsDance-AngelsDie.com

On 7 May 2001, PButler111 wrote:

Sure, I'd like to know. And would you also tell us how both Herb Bernstein
and Barry are connected to Totie Fields? I believe you said she was a
part of the connection in your original post.

Gayle

Okay, I just e-mailed this to someone else, so I'll just cut and paste it here.
 By the way, no Herb-Totie-Barry connection other than the anecdote I use to
close my book, which I posted on the AOL board.  Here's the Herb info I just
sent someone else:

Okay!  Well, I found this just fascinating, so forgive me if you don't.  But
Herb Bernstein was Barry's gym teacher at EDHS!  As part of his duties, Herb
also was in charge of opening the school auditorium in the morning to let in
any early-arriving students.  Barry would always be among the first to arrive,
and he'd always ask Herb if it was okay if he played the piano in the
auditorium while they were waiting for school to begin.  Ironically, all during
his time at EDHS, Herb was writing songs and performing with groups.  He ended
up leaving EDHS for a high-paying job in the music industry not that long after
Barry graduated.  Herb's been very successful in many facets of the music
business and, over the years, it's turned out that he and Barry have had many
show business connections in common, some of which they never even knew.  Of
course it was most interesting, as someone pointed out, that Herb ended up
being manager/producer/arranger/accompanist for Laura Nyro, one of Barry's
idols.  As I said, I was just fascinated to learn all this.

File under -- it's a small, small world!

pb

There isn't much going on in the world of Manilow right now except
Barry's new project, "Could It Be Magic? The Barry Manilow Songbook."
It opens in Chicago in June.  Website:  http://www.cibem.net

We're all waiting on a new CD.  Join the wait.  ;)

Scooter

On 7 May 2001, PButler111 wrote:

Would you post it here for those of us not on AOL? We can't access that
board.

Thanks,
Gayle

Okay, but with the same caveat:  This is the *unedited* last few paragraphs of
my book.  I don't anticipate that it will change substantially between now and
final, if at all, but just FYI.  This is also copyrighted material, again FYI.
I'll put it in <<>> to make it clear it's a quote from the book.

<<Manilow himself, after years of ducking the shots volleyed his way, and
occasionally volleying a few back, seems to have made some kind of peace with
the situation, choosing more often than not to join in the fun rather than
fight it.  On the popular, long-running (1988 to 1998) television comedy Murphy
Brown, Barry became a running gag when the character Murphy Brown, played by
actress Candice Bergen, gives birth to a son who can only be soothed by the
sound of Barry Manilow songs.  Though the butt of the joke on the show for a
year, Manilow gamely appeared on the 1993 episode marking the child's first
birthday, performing the Manilow-Panzer tune, ‘I Am Your Child.'  More
recently Manilow made an appearance on the television show Ally McBeal, again
gamely going along with his role as punchline.  Does Manilow's willingness to
participate in his own disparagement denote a surrender to those who would
reduce him to punchline status?  Or does it merely mark Manilow's realization
that, after a career that is longer in years than the lives of many of his
peers, he really has nothing to prove to anyone?  As Ed Sciaky puts it, "What
does Barry care?  He's got fans all over the world who love him."

And when it comes right down to it, it's the audience that makes or breaks a
performer's career, not critics, not the cynics.  Herb Bernstein likes to tell
a story about the late comedian Totie Fields that illustrates the point.

"Totie Fields was working at a room here in New York –  it's no longer in
existence – called the Band Box in what was at the time the Americana Hotel.
She performed there and the critics said she was dirty, she's not very funny,
she's fat – every slander you could think of.  And I remember she said to me,
‘You know Herb, no one likes me except the audience.'

When all is said and done, this may well prove to be a fitting epitaph for
Barry Manilow: After a lifetime of singing to the world, no one liked him –
except the millions who did.>>

http://www.AngelsDance-AngelsDie.com

 Nope.