(Host) The woman who made the song "Moonlight In Vermont" a hit has died.
Margaret Whiting was a cabaret singer who had a string of hits in the 1940’s. She was still performing in nightclubs well into her 80’s.
Whiting was perhaps best known for her association with lyricist Johnny Mercer, who became her mentor.
She recorded Moonlight in Vermont in 1943, when she was just 19 years old.
With the United States at war, Vermont became an iconic reminder of home for the men and women stationed overseas.
I spoke with Margaret Whiting in the fall of 2002. She had never been to Vermont, and recalled asking Mercer for advice on how to interpret his lyrics.
(Whiting) "I was so busy trying to capture the style of what the song was, in other words, tell the story. And I said Johnny, help me with this, and he said, look. Think of the smell of waffles cooking and maple syrup, that’s what Vermont, one of the things they’re famous for. So smell maple syrup in the air. Then he said think of the lakes in the summer, and think of the beautiful trees that people drive miles to see, that are so gorgeous in the fall. So I got conjured up by him, and I think I got very lucky that I could maybe tell the story of that song, but I’ll always be very proud that he found it for me, and that it’s meant so much to me, and to Vermont."
(Host) Margaret Whiting died of natural causes on Monday in Englewood, New Jersey. She was 86.