Portrait of Johnny: The Life of John Herndon Mercer

(Book). A poignant, candid portrait of a great American lyricist of the 20th century, Portrait of Johnny The Life of John Herndon Mercer is also a deeply personal memoir by one of Johnny Mercer's best friends. "Moon River," "Black Magic," "Laura," "Satin Doll" the honor roll of Mercer's songs is endless. Both Oscar Hammerstein II and Alan Jay Lerner called him the greatest lyricist in the English language, and he was perhaps the best-loved and certainly the best-known songwriter of his generation. In music historian and songwriter Gene Lees, Mercer has his perfect biographer, who deals tactfully but directly with his complicated relations with his domineering mother, his tormenting wife, Ginger, and Judy Garland, the great love of his life.