Lewis Allan

About

Abel Meeropol (born 10 February 1903, New York; died 30 October 1986, Longmeadow, Mass) was a Jewish-American poet and writer, who worked under the pseudonym Lewis Allan, which was derived from the names given to his two stillborn sons. He worked as a secondary school teacher until the 1940s. He was a member of the Communist Party, although (the timing/motive is unclear - somewhere between the increasing awareness of Soviet mass murders, or expedience to avoid being blacklisted) he later left. In 1954, he adopted the sons of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, who had been executed in 1953 after passing atomic secrets to Soviet Union (other sources give 1957, which may just be the date of the formal legal adoption).

He is most famous for writing the anti-lynching poem "Bitter Fruit", published in 1937, which was later set to music as "Strange Fruit". The song was made famous by Billie Holiday, unfortunately resulting in a 25-year struggle to reclaim its authorship. It was later recorded by UB40. His other best-known songs are "The House That I Live In" (performed by Frank Sinatra) and "Apples, Peaches and Cherries". The latter song became famous in France in its translation by Sacha Distel under the title "Scoubidou".

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