Too few people knew Dan Tucker, a long-standing Chicago composer and newspaperman who passed away this weekend at the age of 84. That's not to say that Mr. Tucker was not well-known nor well-loved. He was both those things by many, many people. But if a larger majority of people had known Dan, I think the world would be a better place. A genteel, gracious, and charming man, Dan was a purveyor of good taste, better grammar, and great humor. Fortunately, for me I was the recipient of all of those things from Dan at one point in my life.
I met Dan in the early 2000s, after he had retired from a four-decades career in the newspaper business as editor and music critic. He was focusing on his own music-making in the form of composition, a calling which Dan had pursued all his professional life. A man of diverse interests and great intelligence, he had earned Bachelor and Master degrees from the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago when he was in his late twenties and already employed full time in the newspaper business.
His compositions, while not widely played, have been performed by such notable artists as Rostropovich, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and His Majesty's Clerks. Dan's compositions are known for their easy lyricism and sensitive word-setting. His choice of song texts shows his excellent tastes and diverse interests: Shakespeare, former Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Thomas Merton, Native American texts, Ogden Nash, and Lewis Carroll.
I must confess that I have heard very little of Dan's music first-hand. I will miss the man more than the music. He was a gentle soul that brimmed with the fire of creation. Something more of us should have.
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