FROM PHOEBE LEGERE'S FACEBOOK PAGE:
Happy Halloween, my dear Facebook friends! 
While the ghosts, princesses and goblins are out, I’m taking flight to Los Angeles for a different kind of magic: the 99th birthday party of one of my best friends, the great American illustrator, Hilary Knight.
MILESTONE & GERSHWIN
To mark this milestone, I’ll be singing a very obscure Gershwin song Hilary requested: “Ask Me Again.” It’s a song written at the very end of George’s life, with words by Ira—"Ask Me Again" was discovered by the great Michael Feinstein, who will be there, along with a constellation of stars: William Ivey Long, Alan Eichler, Howard Mandelbaum, Douglas Colby and others.
Our friendship has withstood every assault—even when a now-canceled Lena Dunham tried to usurp my place as Hilary's protégé, cartooning us in her absurd HBO movie. Our relationship shuddered gloriously when Marlene Dietrich herself called -- during the Marlene tribute show Hilary masterminded for me at The Ballroom - demanding: "Who is this kid?" (Alas, the video of that show and all our other ephemeral masterpieces burned to ash in the Altadena fire. A tragedy!) A few excerpts, filmed by Hilary, can be seen on my Youtube channel.
HIGH AMERICAN ART
You have to understand, Hilary’s art is not "illustration." This is High American Art. His father, Clayton Knight, was friends with George Bellows, and Hilary studied with Reginald Marsh. His line is a living thing—a vibrating, vibrant, virtuosic electric wire, elegantly delineating his ever-so-playful and ingeniously delightful wit.
I am so blessed. So honored to have moistened my soul in the font of American Art greatness.
It all began, as the best things do, with a book. My childhood friend Jenny Wylie and I would spend hours studying our "Eloise."
BOBBY VAN's
Years later, I met Hilary at Bobby Van’s. He presented me with a signed first edition containing a beautiful drawing of Eloise looking at a poster of me, captioned: "It is me - Eloise." My retinas and my heart melted. And we became friends. Very good friends.
You may ask, how does one live to be 100? My friends, the answer is simple: Do what you love. And Make Art.
Here are just a very few of the hundreds of drawings, posters, and designs Hilary has made of me over the decades. Now I am flying to LA to sing for my friend.
Here’s to 99 years of genius, and to the art of friendship.
HilaryKnight #Eloise #AmericanArt #Gershwin #Broadway #Cabaret #Illustration #Friendship #HappyBirthday #Halloween #phoebelegere #phoebe #cabaret
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