This memoir is as odd, curmudgeonly, imaginative, funny and charming as its author, who was one of the glorious eccentrics of American music. First published in 1975, five yearas before Wilder's death, it has now been annotated by David Demsey, who has managed to identify almost everyone addressed by Wilder.
The Whole Note

In Letters I Never Mailed: Clues to a Life, Alec Wilder wanted to reveal himself, but not entirely. And so he left unidentified the individuals to whom many of the letters were written. The detective work of David Demsey gives us a much better understanding of the enigma that was Alec Wilder.
Marian McPartland, renowned jazz pianist, recording artist, and host for over 25 years of Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz (National Public Radio)

Alec Wilder was one of the great composers of modern times. He wrote a suite for me with concert band. Nobody could play the last movement. When I asked him about all the difficult notes in my part, he said, 'That's what you would have played if you had improvised!' In this new edition, David Demsey has been responsible for allowing people to understand some of Alec's equally mysterious letters, helping readers to better know one of my favourite people.
Jazz Trumpeter Clark Terry

Alec Wilder seated after a rehearsal at Duke University, 1974. Photo by Louis Ouzer

15 black & white illustrations
336 pages, Size: 9 x 6 in
ISBN: 978 158046 2082
Binding: Hardback
Publication date: 30/Oct/2005
Price: $29.95 / £19.99