Philip George Furia (November 15, 1943 – April 3, 2019) was an American author and

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...

professor. His books focus on the lyricists of the

Tin Pan Alley Tin Pan Alley was a collection of History of music publishing, music publishers and songwriters in New York City that dominated the American popular music, popular music of the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It origin ...

era.

Biography

Furia was born in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

to Ethel Rose Szilagyi Furia and Philip Andrew Furia. He has a younger brother, Mark Daniel Furia. He grew up in West Mifflin, a suburb of Pittsburgh, next to

Kennywood Park Kennywood is an amusement park located in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, just southeast of Pittsburgh. The park opened on May 30, 1899, as a trolley park attraction at the end of the Mellon family's Monongahela Street Railway. It was purchased in 1 ...

, an amusement park where he worked as a barker during his high school years. In 1961, Furia graduated from Duquesne High School in Pittsburgh and attended

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a private liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio. It is the oldest coeducational liberal arts college in the United States and the second oldest continuously operating coeducational institute of highe ...

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

, majoring in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

. Following his graduation with honors in English from Oberlin in 1965, Furia attended the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

, receiving his

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

in English and Creative Writing in 1966. Furia then attended the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 co ...

Writers' Workshop where he received his

Master of Fine Arts A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts ...

in 1970. ''Hunkies Eat Their Young'' was the title of his MFA thesis. He received his

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * '' Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. al ...

from the University of Iowa in 1970. Upon receiving his degree, Furia started teaching at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. ...

's Department of

in 1970. During Furia's time at the University of Minnesota, he was a visiting lecturer at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, England (1976-1977), and for the academic year 1982–1983, a Fulbright Professor at the University of Graz, Austria. In 1996, Furia left the University of Minnesota where he had been Department Chair, Associate Chair, Director of Undergraduate Studies, and Associate Dean for Faculty of the

College A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offerin ...

Liberal Arts Liberal arts education (from Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as La ...

. In 1995, Furia served as the Interim

Dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

for the College of Arts and Sciences for

Metropolitan State University Metropolitan State University (Metro State) is a public university in the Minneapolis–St. Paul, Minnesota metropolitan area. It is a member of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system.

Saint Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississippi River, Saint Paul is a regional business hub and the center ...

during the 1994–1995 academic year. Furia became Chair of the Department of

at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. During his

tenure Tenure is a category of academic appointment existing in some countries. A tenured post is an indefinite academic appointment that can be terminated only for cause or under extraordinary circumstances, such as financial exigency or program disco ...

there, Furia was also Director of the

Film Studies Film studies is an academic discipline that deals with various theoretical, historical, and critical approaches to cinema as an art form and a medium. It is sometimes subsumed within media studies and is often compared to television studies. ...

Program, Chair of the Department of

Creative Writing Creative writing is any writing that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on narrative craft, character development, and the use of literary ...

, and Interim Chair of the Department of Theatre. He was instrumental in the creation of both the Creative Writing Department and the Film Studies Program. He was a professor in the Department of Creative Writing. Furia also presented a weeknight segment on

WHQR WHQR is the National Public Radio (NPR) member station for Southeastern North Carolina, broadcasting on the FM band 91.3 MHz. Based in Wilmington and operated by Friends of Public Radio, Inc. (a community group). It airs NPR, American Publ ...

's ''The Great American Songbook with Philip Furia.'' Along with Wendy and Gerald Fingerhut, Nancy King, Paul Albritton, David Williams, Jeannette Callison, Melvin Ezzel, Lynn O'Connell, Jack Sauer, and Robert Sherman, Furia was one of the founding members of the Board of Directors for Opera Wilmington. Furia died on April 3, 2019.

Honors and awards

Undergraduate *Knight Scholarship, 1961–1965, Oberlin College Graduate *Ford Foundation Fellowship, 1965–1966, University of Chicago *Teaching-Research Fellowship, 1967–1969, University of Iowa *Sloan Doctoral Fellowship, 1969–1970, University of Iowa Professional *Fulbright Professorship, 1982–1983, University of Graz, Austria *Distinguished Teaching Award, 1989, University of Minnesota, College of Continuing Education and Extension *Scholar of the college, 1991–1994, University of Minnesota *Cahill Grant, 1997–1998, University of North Carolina Wilmington *Presented with Key to the City of Savannah by Mayor Floyd Adams for writing ''Skylark: The Life and Times of Johnny Mercer'', 2003 *Awarded annual cash prize for editing ''American Lyricists, 1920-1960'', which was voted the best volume in the series for 2002

Works

*'' Pound's Cantos Declassified'' (1984) *''The Poets of

: A History of

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

's Great

Lyricist A lyricist is a songwriter who writes lyrics (the spoken words), as opposed to a composer, who writes the song's music which may include but not limited to the melody, harmony, arrangement and accompaniment. Royalties A lyricist's incom ...

s'' (1992) *''

Ira Gershwin Ira Gershwin (born Israel Gershovitz; December 6, 1896 – August 17, 1983) was an American lyricist who collaborated with his younger brother, composer George Gershwin, to create some of the most memorable songs in the English language of the 2 ...

: The Art of the Lyricist'' (1996) *''

Irving Berlin Irving Berlin (born Israel Beilin; yi, ישראל ביילין; May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989) was a Russian-American composer, songwriter and lyricist. His music forms a large part of the Great American Songbook. Born in Imperial Russ ...

: A Life in Song'' (1997) *Edited and contributed to American Lyricists, 1920-1960 (Detroit: Gale, 2022) *''Skylark: The Life and Times of

Johnny Mercer John Herndon Mercer (November 18, 1909 – June 25, 1976) was an American lyricist, songwriter, and singer, as well as a record label executive who co-founded Capitol Records with music industry businessmen Buddy DeSylva and Glenn E. Wallic ...

'' (2004) *''America's Songs: The Stories Behind the Songs of Broadway, Hollywood, and

'' (2006), with Michael Lasser, host of

Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Peabody, honor the most powerful, enlightening, and invigorating stories in television, radio, and ...

-winning public radio program ''Fascinatin’ Rhythm''"Michael Lasser to Speak on Music Related to LeConte Stewart Exhibit"
''U-News & Views'' (University of Utah Alumni Association), November 2011. Retrieved 2011-11-25. *''The Songs of Hollywood'', with Laurie J. Patterson (2010) *''The American Song Book: The Tin Pan Alley Era'', with Laurie J. Patterson (2015) *''The Poets of

: A History of

's Great

s'', 2nd edition Laurie J. Patterson (post-humously 2022) Articles, Chapters, and Other Publications: *"Nuances of a Theme by Milton: Wallace Stevens' 'Sunday Morning,'" ''

American Literature American literature is literature written or produced in the United States of America and in the colonies that preceded it. The American literary tradition thus is part of the broader tradition of English-language literature, but also inc ...

'', 46 (1974), 83–87. *"Hart Crane's 'At Melville's Tombe," ''

The Explicator ''The Explicator'' is a quarterly journal of literary criticism. Current owner Routledge acquired the journal from Heldref Publications in 2009. It mainly publishes short papers on poetry and prose. It is indexed in the Arts & Humanities Citation ...

'', 33 (1975), Item 73. *"'IS, the whited monster': Lowell's Quaker Graveyard Revisited," ''

Texas Studies in Literature and Language ''Texas Studies in Literature and Language'', commonly known as TSLL, is a peer-reviewed academic journal devoted to the humanities. It publishes essays reflecting a variety of critical approaches and all periods of literary history, with select ...

'', 17 (1976), 837–54. *"Bloomburied Stevens" (rev. art.) ''Centrum'' 1 (1977), 58–63. *"Stevens' Fusky Alphabet," '' PMLA'' 93 (1978), 66–77. o-author, Martin Roth*"Howells' 'Editha': The Feminine View," ''American Literary Realism'', 12 (1979), 278–83. *"''Paterson's'' Progress," ''

boundary 2 ''Boundary 2'', often stylized ''boundary 2'', is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal of postmodern theory, literature, and culture. Established in 1972 by William V. Spanos and Robert Kroetsch (Binghamton University), under the title '' ...

,'' 9 (1981), 31–51. *"Pound and Blake on Hell," ''Paideuma: A Journal of Ezra Pound Scholarship'', 10 (1981), 599–601. *"Halving Man/hattan: Lorenz Hart, Popular Song, and Modernist Poetry," ''William Carlos Williams Review'', 15 (1989), 30–36. *"Jazzing the Word/Wording the Jazz," ''Twin Cities Jazz Notes'', 13:1 (May 1991), 1–3. *"Irving Berlin: Troubadour of Tin Pan Alley," ''Inventing Times Square: Culture and Commerce in New York'', ed. William Taylor (New York: The

Russell Sage Foundation The Russell Sage Foundation is an American non-profit organisation established by Margaret Olivia Sage in 1907 for “the improvement of social and living conditions in the United States.” It was named after her recently deceased husband, rai ...

, 1991), 191–211. *"The Lorenz Hart Centenary," ''

Dictionary of Literary Biography The ''Dictionary of Literary Biography'' is a specialist biographical dictionary dedicated to literature. Published by Gale, the 375-volume setRogers, 106. covers a wide variety of literary topics, periods, and genres, with a focus on American ...

Yearbook: 1995'' (Detroit: Bruccoli Clark Layman, 1996), 241–260. Author of main essay and editor of centenary tributes by

Sheldon Harnick Sheldon Mayer Harnick (born April 30, 1924) is an American lyricist and songwriter best known for his collaborations with composer Jerry Bock on musicals such as ''Fiorello!'' and '' Fiddler on the Roof''. Early life Sheldon Mayer Harnick was ...

and other lyricists and scholars. *"'S Wonderful: Concord Jazz Salutes Ira Gershwin," CD Linder Notes for

Mel Torme Mel, Mels or MEL may refer to: Biology * Mouse erythroleukemia cell line (MEL) * National Herbarium of Victoria, a herbarium with the Index Herbariorum code MEL People * Mel (given name), the abbreviated version of several given names (including ...

Rosemary Clooney Rosemary Clooney (May 23, 1928 – June 29, 2002) was an American singer and actress. She came to prominence in the early 1950s with the song " Come On-a My House", which was followed by other pop numbers such as " Botch-a-Me", " Mambo Italiano" ...

, and other jazz vocalists performing songs by

(San Francisco:

Concord Jazz Concord Jazz is a record company and label founded in 1973 by Carl Jefferson, the former owner of Jefferson Motors Lincoln Mercury dealership in Concord, California. The label was named after the city in the East San Francisco Bay area, and the ...

, Inc., 1997). *"The Ira Gershwin Centenary," '

Yearbook: 1996'' (Detroit: Bruccoli Clark Layman, 1997), 144-171. Author of main essay and editor of tributes by

and other lyricists and scholars. *"Love is Good for Anything that Ailes You: Songs of the 1930s," CD Liner Notes for Banu Gibson (New Orleans: Jazz Sessions, 1998). *"Something to Sing About: A Centenary Celebration of America's Great Lyricists," ''The American Scholar'' (Summer 1997), 379-394. *"Sinatra on Broadway," ''Frank Sinatra and Popular Culture: Essays on an American Icon'', ed. Leonard Mustazza (London: Praeger, 1998). *Frank Sinatra: Musician, Actor, & Quintessential Ethnic," symposium edited for ''Italian Americana'', XIX (Winter 2001), 5-22, including his own essay "Sinatra and the Great American Song Book," 10-13. *The Sounds of Silence: Songs in Hollywood Films since the 1960s," ''Style'' 36:1 (Spring 2002, 19-35. o-author, Todd Berliner Selected National Television, Radio, and Other Interviews: *“The Poets of Tin Pan Alley,”

Larry King Live ''Larry King Live'' was an American television talk show hosted by Larry King on CNN from 1985 to 2010. It was the channel's most watched and longest-running program, with over one million viewers nightly. Mainly aired from CNN's Los Angeles ...

!1990;

All Things Considered ''All Things Considered'' (''ATC'') is the flagship news program on the American network National Public Radio (NPR). It was the first news program on NPR, premiering on May 3, 1971. It is broadcast live on NPR affiliated stations in the United ...

, 1990; The Studs Terkel Show,

WFMT WFMT is an FM radio station in Chicago, Illinois, featuring a format of fine arts, classical music programming, and shows exploring such genres as folk. The station is managed by Window to the World Communications, Inc., owner of WTTW, Chicago ...

, Chicago,1991; return appearance on

in conjunction with paperback publication of ''The Poets of Tin Pan Alley'', 1993; interview rebroadcast on The Best of

! *“

: The Art of the Lyricist,” television interview:

Turner Entertainment Turner Entertainment Company is an American multimedia company founded by Ted Turner in 1986. Purchased by Time Warner in 1996 as part of its acquisition of Turner Broadcasting System (TBS), the company was largely responsible for overseeing th ...

Report, 1996; radio interviews: WBAL Philadelphia; KBEW New York;

BBC London BBC London is the BBC English Region producing local radio, television, teletext and online services in London and parts of the surrounding area. Its output includes the daily ''BBC London News'' and weekly '' Sunday Politics'' on television, ...

; BBC Australia;

ABC Australia The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-owne ...

;

WBEX WBEX (1490 AM) is a radio station broadcasting a News Talk Information format. Licensed to Chillicothe, Ohio, United States, the station is currently owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. and features programming from Fox News Radio, Premiere Radio Network ...

Los Angeles, 1996 *“The Women of Tin Pan Alley,” PBS Special: “Yours for a Song,”1999 *“

Harry Warren Harry Warren (born Salvatore Antonio Guaragna; December 24, 1893 – September 22, 1981) was an American composer and the first major American songwriter to write primarily for film. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song ...

and Hollywood Songwriters,” two-part series,

Fresh Air ''Fresh Air'' is an American radio talk show broadcast on National Public Radio stations across the United States since 1985. It is produced by WHYY-FM in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The show's host is Terry Gross. , the show was syndicated to ...

with

Terry Gross Terry Gross (born February 14, 1951) is an American journalist who is the host and co-executive producer of '' Fresh Air'', an interview-based radio show produced by WHYY-FM in Philadelphia and distributed nationally by NPR. Since joining N ...

, 1999 *

: An American Song, Arts & Entertainment Biography, 1999 *“

Dorothy Fields Dorothy Fields (July 15, 1904 – March 28, 1974) was an American librettist and lyricist. She wrote over 400 songs for Broadway musicals and films. Her best-known pieces include "The Way You Look Tonight" (1936), "A Fine Romance" (1936), " On t ...

,”

Radio with

, 1999 * PBS Broadway: The Musical (Emmy-Award winning six-part series) *

’s America,” two-part program,

Ben Wattenberg Benjamin Joseph Wattenberg (born Joseph Ben Zion Wattenberg;Roberts, Sam New York ''Times'', June 29, 2015. Retrieved 2015-06-29. August 26, 1933 – June 28, 2015) was an American author, neoconservative political commentator and demographer, ...

’s Think Tank,

WNET WNET (channel 13), branded on-air as "Thirteen" (stylized as "THIRTEEN"), is a primary PBS member television station licensed to Newark, New Jersey, United States, serving the New York City area. Owned by The WNET Group (formerly known as the ...

, New York, 2002 *The Best Things in Life, four-part series on songwriters

Buddy DeSylva George Gard "Buddy" DeSylva (January 27, 1895 – July 11, 1950) was an American songwriter, film producer and record executive. He wrote or co-wrote many popular songs and, along with Johnny Mercer and Glenn Wallichs, he co-founded Capitol Recor ...

Brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model ...

Henderson Henderson may refer to: People * Henderson (surname), description of the surname, and a list of people with the surname *Clan Henderson, a Scottish clan Places Argentina *Henderson, Buenos Aires Australia *Henderson, Western Australia Canada * ...

BBC-2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream ...

, 2002 *Soul Music, four-part series on

, 2002 *Interviewed for '' U.S. News & World Report'' article on

and ragtime in special double-issue, America’s Music: From Yankee Doodle to Hip-Hop, 2006 *Skylark: The Life and Times of Johnny Mercer,

with

, 2003. *Americas Songs,

The Bob Edwards Show ''The Bob Edwards Show'' was an American radio program broadcast from 2004 to 2014 by Sirius XM Satellite Radio every weekday morning at 8 a.m. Eastern, with repeats at 8 a.m. Central, 7 a.m. Pacific, 6 p.m. Mountain, and the next day at 7 a.m. ...

, 2006; interview, reprised as Best of Bob Edwards along with interviews with

John Updike John Hoyer Updike (March 18, 1932 – January 27, 2009) was an American novelist, poet, short-story writer, art critic, and literary critic. One of only four writers to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction more than once (the others being Booth Tar ...

and

Calvin Trillin Calvin Marshall Trillin (born 5 December 1935) is an American journalist, humorist, food writer, poet, memoirist and novelist. He is a winner of the Thurber Prize for American Humor (2012) and an elected member of the American Academy of Arts ...

*I Love to Rhyme: The lyrics of

, six-part series on

KALW KALW (91.7 MHz) is an educational FM public radio station, licensed to the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD), which serves the San Francisco Bay Area. Its studios are located at Phillip and Sala Burton Academic High School off ...

San Francisco, 2011-2014 *The Songs of Hollywood,

with

, 2011 *Broadway Musicals : A Jewish Legacy, PBS Special. 2013 *“Johnny Mercer and ‘Hooray for Hollywood,’”

NPR Morning Edition ''Morning Edition'' is an American radio news program produced and distributed by NPR. It airs weekday mornings (Monday through Friday) and runs for two hours, and many stations repeat one or both hours. The show feeds live from 5:00 to 9:00 AM ...

with Susan Stamberg, 2013 *“East Village Poet: Ira Gershwin,” Morning Calm: Korean Air In-flight Magazine (August, 2013) *“The Poets of Tin Pan Alley,” The Vintage Bandstand Blogspot,” three-part interview (January, 2013)

References

External links

*LIVE LOCAL, LIVE SMALL: Remembering the impact of UNCW’s Dr. Phil Furia

published in encore, April 23, 2019 *Tony L. Hill
Philip Furia: An Appreciation
published on Powerline blog, April 7, 2019

an

Robert Kimball and Linda Emmet (second of Irving Berlin, Berlin's three daughters), co-editors of ''The Complete Lyrics of Irving Berlin'', and Furia; host

. PBS

Think Tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-govern ...

, audio and transcript.
978-0-415-99052-3 ''America's Songs''
at Routledge: Taylor & Francis Group.
"When Hollywood Had A Song In Its Heart"
transcript, Philip Furia interview with

, ''Fresh Air'', July 20, 2010. Discussing ''The Songs of Hollywood''; mentions include

Claire Trevor Claire Trevor ( Wemlinger; March 8, 1910April 8, 2000) was an American actress. She appeared in 65 feature films from 1933 to 1982, winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in ''Key Largo'' (1948), and received nomina ...

singing "

Moanin' Low Moanin' Low is a popular torch song. The music was written by Ralph Rainger; the lyrics by Howard Dietz. The song was published in 1929 and was introduced that same year in the musical revue ''The Little Show'' by Libby Holman becoming a hit and Hol ...

" in ''

Key Largo Key Largo ( es, Cayo Largo) is an island in the upper Florida Keys archipelago and is the largest section of the keys, at long. It is one of the northernmost of the Florida Keys in Monroe County, and the northernmost of the keys connected by ...

'';

Donald O'Connor Donald David Dixon Ronald O'Connor (August 28, 1925 – September 27, 2003) was an American dancer, singer and actor. He came to fame in a series of films in which he co-starred with Gloria Jean, Peggy Ryan, and Francis the Talking Mule. His b ...

lip syncing Lip sync or lip synch (pronounced , the same as the word ''sink'', short for lip synchronization) is a technical term for matching a speaking or singing person's lip movements with sung or spoken vocals. Audio for lip syncing is generated thr ...

in ''

Singin' in the Rain ''Singin' in the Rain'' is a 1952 American musical romantic comedy film directed and choreographed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, starring Kelly, Donald O'Connor, and Debbie Reynolds and featuring Jean Hagen, Millard Mitchell and Cyd C ...

'' "where ... he's bouncing all over the room"
Interview audio (26 min.)

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Furia, Philip 1943 births 2019 deaths Writers from Pittsburgh Oberlin College alumni American male non-fiction writers American academics of English literature