Has it really been five months (!) since my last pos

t? Wow. To repeat yet again what has become my signature phrase, sorry for the lack of updates. Hopefully over the holidays I’ll have a little more time to catch up with everything.

As some of you might know, Linda Dozoretz passed away on Nov. 9 in Los Angeles. Linda had been Burt Bacharach’s publicist for many years, and it was in that context that I first met her. In the early days of this website, I was a little reluctant to reach out to Burt’s management because I thought the site should maintain some degree of distance. I wanted to be able to discuss Burt’s music and career without any pressure to focus only on the positive, and I guess I thought that cultivating a relationship with Burt’s publicity people would be a slippery slope toward the site becoming just an extension of their PR efforts. At some point, I contacted Linda’s office to try to get a list of upcoming concerts but was unsuccessful, and I posted something to that effect on the site. Not long after that, Linda contacted me personally, introduced herself and apologized for the miscommunication. A little while later, I received Burt’s press kit, a list of his upcoming concerts and an autographed copy of The Music of Burt Bacharach, a promo-only box set of recordings. From that point on, she and her staff sent me regular updates on Burt’s activities. She never once asked me to promote something she’d sent, she never once asked me to remove something I or a fan had posted on the site, and she and her staff always responded promptly to my requests for info. Without a doubt, this website would not be what it is today were it not for Linda’s many contributions over the years. On a personal level, Linda was always extraordinarily friendly, helpful and supportive in the interactions I had with her, and it was through Linda that I’ve gotten the chance to meet Burt a few times. My heartfelt condolences go out to Linda’s family and friends at this difficult time.