They Left Their Hearts in San Francisco
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€27.50
George Cory and Douglass Cross wrote just one hit song, "I Left My Heart in San Francisco." They were unknown before they wrote it--and were unknown after it became a standard.
Their lives were a tangle. They eked out a meager living in San Francisco and Brooklyn for 15 years before Tony Bennett serendipitously came across the song, which had languished. His recording revived his career and made the songwriters rich.
Wealth didn't beget happiness. The duo broke up. Cross drank himself to death. Cory died from drinking as well (widely believed to be a suicide). In 2016, San Francisco dedicated a monument to the city's official song in front of the iconic Fairmont Hotel--a statue of Tony Bennett.
Bill Christine won nine national writing awards and shared in a Pulitzer Prize during his 25 years with the Los Angeles Times. His books include Roberto!, a biography about baseball great Roberto Clemente. He lives in Torrance, California.