@George & Ira Gershwin : In 1985 Congress awarded George and Ira Gershwin the Congressional Gold Medal, only the third time that songwriters had been so honored inr nation’s history.

@PBS : Gershwin’s first published song, “When You Want ‘Em, You Can’t Get ‘Em,” demonstrated innovative new techniques, but only earned him five dollars.

@allmovie : : while attending CCNY, the older Gershwin brother began composing witty comic poems for the school newspaper. He began writing song lyrics in 1918, using the alias Arthur Francis.

@GershwinFan.com : George had two brothers, Arthur and Ira, and one sister, Francis (Frankie). …Frankie was actually he first person in the family to perform musically for compensation as a young girl. If it weren’t for Ira’s interest in music, George’s parents would not have purchased the family’s first piano.

@IMDB : In less than three weeks in 1924 he composed “Rhapsody in Blue,” originally for Paul Whiteman’s relatively small swing band and later orchestrated by Ferde Grofé.

@Answers.com : Gershwin’s melodic lines tended to be angular and aggressive, as exemplified by the show’s “Fascinating Rhythm” and title song but could on occasion be soft, sentimental, almost wailing, as in “So Am I,” suggesting that his Jewish background as well as black sources influenced his composition.

@8notes : : Gershwin had a ten-year affair with composer Kay Swift. Swift was a frequent consult of Gershwin; he named the musical Oh, Kay after her. Posthumously, Swift arranged some of his music, transcribed some of his recordings, and collaborated with Ira on several projects.

@Florida Atlantic University Libraries : Porgy and Bess opened in New York to mixed reviews on October 10, 1935. Sponsored by the State Department, the American National Theater and Academy performed the opera on tour in Europe and Africa during 1954 and 1955.

@1019 N. Roxbury Drive : In August, 1936, George, Ira and Lee (Ira’s wife) moved into the spacious home on North Roxbury Drive with the tennis court and swimming pool. It quickly became the gathering place for their New York expatriate friends - Lillian Hellman, Oscar Levant, Harold Arlen, to name a few.

@HDtracks : Ira was the first songwriter awarded the Pulitzer Prize for drama. (with George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind for Of Thee I Sing in 1932).to be continued… probably