Nearly 25 years ago, Jeff Morris, a high school senior in Jeffersonville, Indiana, placed a phone call to his new idol: Tom Lehrer, the greatest musical satirist ever recorded.
“Is this Tom Lehrer?” Morris asked over the phone, working to hide his nervousness.
“Yes,” replied a voice some 1,000 miles away.
“The Tom Lehrer who teaches math?”
“Yes.”
“The Tom Lehrer that did some records in the ’50s and ’60s?”
“Yes.”
Morris apologetically explained his school assignment (an interview about censorship), worried that Lehrer wouldn’t want to speak to him and self-conscious for having interrupted his day. The retired performer listened patiently to his request.
“Rather than talk to me for very long, just make up anything you want and I won’t deny it.”