Wizard of Oz songwriter to Take Center Stage on New Stamp

NEW YORK (United States Postal Service/ www.usps.com) - Academy Award winner for "Over the Rainbow" in 1939, and author or more than 600 songs, Yip Harburg will be honored with a new postage stamp on April 28, at the 92nd Street Y Tisch Center for the Arts in New York at 6 p.m. The event will include the stamp dedication/First Day of Issue, as well as a musical and video tribute that is free and open to the public. The stamps will be issued only in Manhattan April 28 and will be available nationwide on Friday, April 29. Participants include Maureen McGovern, Michael Feinstein, Catherine Russell, Harburg family members and others.

Among Harburg's songs are, "We're Off to See the Wizard," "Ding Dong the Witch is Dead," "It's Only a Paper Moon," "Old Devil Moon," "April in Paris," and "How Are Things in Glocca Morra?" Writing lyrics for more than 600 songs for theater and film, Harburg wrote for and worked with many of his era's greatest entertainers, including Al Jolson, Groucho Marx, Bert Lahr and Frank Sinatra. Harburg was born on April 8, 1896, in the lower east side of New York. He graduated from City College of New York in 1917, then worked in South America. Embracing his love for music, he began writing songs with composer Jay Gorney in 1929. In 1932, they produced a major hit, with "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" written for a Broadway revue, which was immediately recognized as a classic. After furnishing lyrics for two more Broadway shows, Harburg teamed with composer Harold Arlen.

Harburg and Arlen moved to Hollywood in 1934, together, they collaborated on several classics of stage and screen, ultimately winning the Academy Award for Best Song for "Over the Rainbow," in The Wizard of Oz.
Harburg died on March 5, 1981, on his way to a story conference for a film version of Robert Louis Stevenson's classic, "Treasure Island." The 92nd St Y is located at 92nd St and Lexington Ave.