One of the great lyricists of American song, Harburg grew up (as Irwin Hochberg) in the working-class Jewish ghetto of Manhattan's Lower East Side. In high scho ol he befriended Ira Gershwin, later his collaborator on student literary ventures at City College of New York; both also contributed to F.P. Adams' colu mn in the daily New York World, the city's leading outlet for light verse. After graduation in 1917, during the wartime manpower shortage, Harburg landed a lucrative job in Uruguay ...[Read Story]