Rod McKuen did not write the original versions of "If You Go Away" ("Ne Me Quitte Pas") and "Seasons in the Sun" ("Le Moribond"). They were written by Jacques Brel. McKuen wrote English-language adaptations that still have many purists cringing.
However, McKuen did write something many years ago that made a permanent, lasting impression on me: the book Finding My Father: One Man's Search For Identity. It was his first work of non-fiction, and came out in the 1970's.
That is the book to read.
Signor V.
"For me, there's only my wife..."
"Sure I cook with wine - sometimes I even add it to the food!"
"When life itself seems lunatic, who knows where madness lies?"
"It was a grass harp... And we listened."
"Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it? Every, every minute?"
"No. Saints and poets, maybe... they do some."
| 
