ge 8/The Battalion/Monday, October 10,1983
ntertainer promotes biography
Blind whisder has unusual talent
United Press International
I F.XARKANA — Fred Low-
tduuhl his way out of the
ton fields of Fast Texas to
•form in Carnegie Hall and
White House with one of the
ist unusual talents in the en-
tainineiit field — whistling.
Lowery — who is in Texarka-
visiting relatives, recu|)erat-
; front a retent illness and
minting his new biography,
histling in the Dark” — was
led “probably the finest whist-
who ever puekered a lip” by
ie New York l imes.
That's not tjuite right,
nigh. Lowery never puckers.
"That's one of the first things
u learn when whistling, not to
cker,” Lowery said. "Most
ople usually whistle out of
te. They're usually loo loud,
(I have a very piercing whistle,
iidi I used to have before I got
ions about whistling. There
* a lot of chirpers, too.”
Lowery, who doesn’t like
chirping and refuses to tlo bird
imitations, has been whistling
professionally for more than 50
years. He was the whistler on
“Indian Love Call” and taught
Mary Martin how to whistle
when she played Peter Pan.
He performed in the White
House was before President
Franklin Roosevelt.
Lowry is blind, but he is
proud that neither his blindness
nor other people’s skepticism
about his becoming a profes
sional whistler has ever stopped
him from doing anything he
wanted to do.
“My whole life has been like
the title of the book, a whistle in
the dark,” he said. “I’ve lak$n
some chances and pushed my
self, and done pretty well, I
think.”
“Whistling in the Dark” is the
title of a song he whistled on the
Rudy Vallee Variety Hour back
in the early 1950s. He recently
had come to New York from
Dallas where he had worked at
“My whole life has
been like the title of
the book, a whistle in
the dark. I’ve taken
some chances and
pushed myself, and
done pretty well, I
think. ” —Fred Lowry
the new radio station, WFAA.
He was trying to make a name
for himself and gel the $300
appearance fee he needed to fi
nance his fledgling career.
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It was his first big national
audience, and he was a hit.
All it brought him, though,
was trouble. A girl and a fake
agent stole his $300 and left him
broke.
It wasn’t until a banker bef
riended him and introduced
him to Clara Bell Walsh, a weal
thy New York socialite, that he
got his first big break with the
Vincent Lopez orchestra, one of
the early big bands.
Lowery was Ixirn in Palestine,
Texas, and raised by his grand
mother. Like many Fast Texas
families in the Piney Woods at
that lime, Lowery’s family strug
gled as sharecroppers, moving
from one farm to tne next, pick
ing cotton.
It was in those cotton fields
that he found out he could whis
tle two notes at the same lime.
He has been listed in Ripley’s Be
lieve It Or Not column, and as
far as he knows, is the only per
son who can whistle two notes
simultaneously. He said he real
ly doesn’t know how he does it.
"As far as I can remember,
when I was a kid I could whistle
the two notes out in the cotton
fields in East Texas. And the
farm boys used to say, ’Hey boy,
let me hear you whistle like two
people.’ They didn’t know what
I was doing and I didn't either. I
think I just stumbled upon it.”
Lowery got more ambitious
about his whistling when he en
tered The Texas School for the
Blind and the great Ernest
Nichols gave a program at a stu
dent assembly.
“He was from California.
There was a school out there.
Agnus Woodward Artistic
ScYiool. Thai was all the bird im
itators, bird chirpers who 1
couldn’t stand.”
After Nichols’ program he
gave the students an op|x>rtun-
ity to whistle for the audience.
Lowery had been practicing and
finally, with the encouragement
of his music teacher, agreed to
perform.
Lowery announced he would
whistle “To A Wild Rose,” which
he did despite the skepticism oi
the bird cnirpers. He finished
his performance with a lively
rendition of the “William fell
Overture,” which became one ol
his most impressive numbers.
“Nichols was pretty impress
ed,” he said. “He gave me some
lessons and gave me encourage
ment, but it wasn’t until my
music teacher said that I should
develop my talent for whistling
that I ueciued that 1 wanted it as
a career.
“The depression was just be
ginning anti it wasn’t a good time
to be starting a career at all,
much less a career as a blind
whistler.”
Lowery survived by selling
can openers and whistling for
Austin civic groups until he de
cided to move to Dallas in 1931.
On the Early Birds Show at
WFAA, where he started out at
$10 a week, he became a local
celebrity with other future stars
such as Dale Evans.
Lowery has worked with a lot
of celebrities. He has roomed
with Art Carney and danced
with Judy Garland. He said he
can’t think of one he has worked
with that he didn't like.
Minnesota bird
trots to victory
United Preai Intern tin—I
CUERO —The city of Worth
ington, Minn., once again rules
the roost as the turkey capital of
the world.
Texas turkey Ruby Begonia
trotted in record time Sunday in
the second heat of the Great
Gobbler Gallop in Cuero, but it
E-Systems continues
the tradition of
the world’s great problem solvers.
Unquestionably, Leonardo
da Vinci possessed one of the
world’s great minds. Not only re
nowned as a painter and sculp
tor, da Vinci also applied his
exceptional talents to the me
chanics of flight, to cartography
for planning military campaigns,
and even astronomy.
Today, scientists and engi
neers at E-Systems continue the
tradition by expanding the practi
cal application of advanced tech
nology. E-Systems uses the
principles of flight mechanics as
the basis for major modifications
to aircraft, expands basic car
tography to encompass highly
sophisticated guidance and com
mand and control systems, and
has designed and built a sys
tem that greatly expands man’s
ability to study the universe.
That’s only a small seg
ment of the tough problems
E-Systems engineers solve in
the area of antennas, communi
cations, data acquisition, pro
cessing, storage and retrieval
systems and other systems ap
plications for intelligence and re
connaissance — systems which
are often the first of a kind in
the world.
For a reprint of the da Vinci
illustration and information on ca
reer opportunities with E-Systems
in Texas, Florida, Indiana, Utah,
and Virginia, write: Dr. Lloyd K.
Lauderdale, Vice President
Research and Engineering,
E-Systems, Inc., Corporate
Headquarters, R O. Box 226030,
Dallas, Texas 75266.
E-SYSTEMS
wasn’t enough to keep Worth
ington’s own "Paycheck” from
winning the title.
The Minnesota bird re
claimed the traveling turkey tro
phy of tumultuous triumph,
boosting Worthington into top
turkey status for the seventh
time in 11 years of competition
between the two cities.
On Sunday, Ruby Begonia
blistered the course on the state
highway that runs through
Cuero in a record time of 14.39
seconds. Paycheck was right be
hind in 15.62 seconds but the
title is based on total cumulative
time for both heats.
Paych’eck had won last
month’s race in Worthington
and finished with a total time of
41.82 seconds. Ruby was a dis
tant second, totaling 1:09.49.
Around town
Bonfire cookie crew holds meeting
Cookie Crew must attend a mandatory organizational meet
ing at 8 tonight in 225 Memorial Student Center. The meet
ing will feature a slide show, and everyone is welcome.
Iranian students to sponsor lecture
The Society of Iranian Students will present a lecture on
the Middle East titled 'The Other Side of the Coin,” at 8
tonight in 701 Rudder Tower. A guest speaker from
Washington, D.C., will discuss topics including Palestine and
Lebanon, the war in Iran, and Russian aggression in Af gha
nistan. Admission is free, and everyone is welcome.
Aggielandphotos taken at Pavilion
Individual pictures for the 1984 Aggieland are being
taken at the Pavilion on campus, and at the Yearbook Associ
ates office at 1700 S. Kyle behind Culpepper Plaza.
Dates to have photographs made are:
• Freshmen and sophomores — Oct. 10-14 at the Pavilion
•Juniors — Nov. 7-11, 14-18at Yearbook Asstxiates; and
Nov. 28-Dec. 2, Dec. 5-9 at the Pavilion
• Seniors, graduate students, veterinary and medical
school students — Oct. 10-14, 17-21, 24-28 at Yearbook
Associates; and Oct. 31-Nov. 4 at the Pavilion.
Dance Arts weekly classes scheduled
Dance Arts Society offers weekly dance classes to its
members. People interested in joining and taking classes
should attend the class they want and bring S20 for the
semester membership fee. Classes are offered as follows:
Beginning tap — Monday from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Intermediate/a<‘
p.m.
/ad vanced tap — Monday from 8 p.m. to 9
Aerobics — Tuesday and Thursday from 9 p.m. to 10
p.m.
Intermediate jazz — Tuesday from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Beginning jazz — Tuesday from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Dance technique — Wednesday from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30
p.m.
Beginning ballet — Wednesdav from 7:30 p.m. to 8:30
p.m.
Intermediate/advanced ballet — Monday from 9 p.m. to
10 p.m. and Wednesday from 8:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Beginning modern — Thursdav from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Intermediate modern — Thursdav from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.
All classes are in 268 E. Kyle, and anyone mav join.
To •ubmit an item for thia column, come by The Battalion
office in 216 Reed McDonald.
The problem solvers.
An equal opportunity employer M t H V
Our Garland Division will be on campus interviewing November 3-4,1983
A Lecture on the Middle East
The Other Side of the Coin
by
A Guest Speaker from Washington, D.C.
Topics include:
1. Palestine and Lebanon
2. The Imposed War on Iran
3. Russian Aggression in Afghanistan
•
Time: 8:00 p.m. - Monday, October 10,1983
Place: Rudder Tower - Room 701
Free Admission
Sponsored bp:
The Society of Iranian Students (MSA-PSG)