Author and jazz musician Richard M. Sudhalter was born in Boston, Massachusetts on December 28, 1938. He graduated from Oberlin College with a degree in English literature and music. He worked as a musician in Germany and then as a reporter for United Press International in Europe. He wrote numerous books throughout his lifetime including Bix: Man and Legend, Stardust Melody: The Life and Music of Hoagy Carmichael, and Lost Chords: White Musicians and Their Contribution to Jazz, 1915 - 1945. In Lost Chords, he strove to contradict the widely held belief that white players contributed little to the development of jazz and the book ignited great controversy when it was published in 1999. He also was a member of the New Paul Whiteman Orchestra and won a Grammy with John Chilton for Bunny Berigan in 1982. He died of pneumonia on September 19, 2008 at the age of 69.
