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Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Henry M. Spitzer -- Cruising Down the River Styx

Spitzer, 54, president of a New York City-based music publishing business bearing his name, was formerly an executive with the Edward Morris Music Company and the Chappell Music Publishing Company as well as a member of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP).  Gone, however, were the days that spawned his one big song hit, "Cruising Down the River" (1945), and by September 22, 1952, the veteran Tin Pan Alleyite was tired, sick, and financially ruined.  That day, Spitzer committed suicide by inhaling illuminating gas in his Manhattan apartment at 333 Westr Fifty-seventh Street.  The music publisher left four notes in which he attributed his self-destruction to illness and financial reverses.

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