Songwriter Jack Lawrence, whose “Tenderly” launched the career of Rosemary Clooney and put Bobby Darin on the map with English lyrics to “Beyond the Sea,” passed away on March 15th, 2009 at the age of 96.

Lawrence suffered a fall in his home, fracturing his pelvic bone. He died from complications of the injury.

Lawrence’s name may not be widely known, but get this…his contemporaries were Irving Berlin, Cole Porter and George Gershwin. Jack’s melodies and lyrics launched the careers of at least a dozen major stars.

He wrote Frank Sinatra’s first hit, “All or Nothing at All”. He wrote the first hit for Dinah Shore. He helped catapult the Ink Spots to instant fame with “If I Didn’t Care.”

Jack Lawrence was a national treasure who for some reason garnered very little attention from the media. He had a tremendous impact on our culture, and the way he lived his life to the very end is a model we can all aspire to.

Up to the very day of his death he was still working. He was collaborating on a song with the legendary Quincy Jones. He was also putting the finishing touches to an autobiographical account of his life titled, “Between the Sheets,” a follow-up to his must-read autobiography, “They All Sang My Songs.”

We were privileged to have Jack Lawrence as a friend of GrowingBolder.com and as a guest on the Growing Bolder Radio Show. We are proud to present his interviews as proof of how vibrant and rich this man’s life was even well into his 90s.

Check out another of Jack’s appearance on the GBRS:
— June 17, 2006