Rediscovering My Dad Cy Walter: The Art Tatum of Cocktail Pianists
Our American Stories
iHeartPodcasts
4.6 • 817 Ratings
🗓️ 4 May 2026
⏱️ 20 minutes
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Summary
On this episode of Our American Stories, Cy Walter played piano in bustling New York City during the years when tunes from the Great American Songbook filled smoke-filled rooms and carried late into the night. He built a following at places like the Drake Hotel, where people came as much for him as for the music itself, becoming something of a local legend.
After his death, his son Mark set out to piece together his father’s story. After all, he had only known his dad for a short time. Along the way, he discovered a buried legacy that had been carried forward by those who remembered him best.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is an I-Heart podcast. |
| 0:02.6 | Guaranteed Human. |
| 0:04.3 | Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. |
| 0:07.7 | Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand |
| 0:11.8 | new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. |
| 0:15.5 | Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the |
| 0:20.3 | biology of taunons and wampas |
| 0:22.2 | on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of two. |
| 0:28.3 | Listen to Stuff to Bo Your Mind on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your |
| 0:33.5 | podcasts. |
| 0:50.1 | This is Lee Habib, and this is our American stories, the show where America is the star and the American people. |
| 0:52.3 | Up next to listeners' story from Mark Walter |
| 0:54.5 | about his father, |
| 0:55.8 | whom he knew only a short time, |
| 0:59.0 | but dedicated his life too. |
| 1:01.0 | During this piece, |
| 1:01.7 | she'll be hearing the music of his father, |
| 1:04.1 | Cy Walter. |
| 1:05.3 | Let's get into the story. |
| 1:07.3 | I was 11 years old when my father died of cancer in 1968, and he was only 52, and had had cancer for some 15 years. |
| 1:19.1 | But I wasn't aware of that. I was a child. |
| 1:21.0 | My mother and father made the difficult choice not to tell we children of his illness. And he worked, what were late |
... |
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