Tony's Bennett's legendary singing has touched millions of people, and now his singing's helping him battle Alzheimer's disease … proving the power of music.
BANTER BITE BACKSTORY: Every weekday morning Red has "CBS This Morning" on in the background as she starts her workday by going through emails...
Yesterday, the announcement that Tony Bennett has been battling Alzheimer's since 2016 caught her attention as news of any legendary celebrity battling something so serious would. Red was aware that the disease steals people of their memories and cognitive abilities but was touched by the upbeat nature of Gayle King's interview with Tony Bennett's wife, Susan.
Just as the interview was ending, Red saw an email from Black that linked to an AP announcement about Tony's Bennett's diagnosis and it referenced a newly released feature article in AARP, The Magazine. Although the AP piece was short, it had a quote that made Red stop and smile.
He's not the old Tony anymore," his wife, Susan, told the magazine. "But when he sings, he's the old Tony.
Tony Bennett's singing has touched generations of music lovers, but whether you're familiar with his music or not, this chapter of his life's an inspiring one – of family, of hard work, of joy in what you do, and of the power of music. If you want to learn more about Tony Bennett and his amazing journey – as a musician, as a painter, as a father, as an Alzheimer patient – the AARP article may have everything you want and more.
Labor Day celebrates the American worker. However you may celebrate, we wish you a Happy Labor Day!
Quick! If someone says "Julius Caesar," what comes to mind?
Almost everyone has heard of Julius Caesar, but how many of us really know much about him, or at least that's what Red starts to wonder when she receives the usual flippant, but still accurate, reply from her sister, after feeling very proud that she knew that July was named after the famous Roman.
Which is what got Red to realize, much to her surprise (shock, if truth be told), that even as a straight-A student with a love of history, that when it came to Julius Caesar, a famous historical figure and possibly one of the greatest generals and statesmen of all time, she couldn't tell you dates or battles or anything "historical" associated with him.
Even as a theater major in college, she never read Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar," although she knew just enough about the play to know that it was where the fortune teller warned Caesar to "Beware the Ides of March." Instead, her knowledge of Caesar came from her love of movies.
My first, and probably my most enduring, memory is of a brilliant general who not only commanded armies as he conquered lands far from home but was a great statesman who was also involved with one of the world's most beautiful women. And while he was Julius Caesar and the woman was Cleopatra, to me, they'll always be Rex Harrison and Elizabeth Taylor in Cleopatra, a movie almost as controversial as the general himself.
And Black? Besides knowing that Caesar Salad was invented by a different Caesar, she appreciates Julius Caesar's leadership skills and way with words,
There is much we can learn about leadership from Julius Caesar, whether on the battlefield, in politics, or in business (start small, take risks, communicate well), including what ultimately led to his death (always consider worst-case scenarios, never get complacent or arrogant). Many of his quotes speak (pun intended) to his powerful way with words, and the ability to not only deliver a message but to inspire (and story tell), with my favorite being, "I came, I saw, I conquered."
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