“You don’t know what a blind person needs!” Fred Lowrey, a blind man, said to banker Jerry Buckley sitting in the banker’s office in New York City in March of 1934, on the most desperate day of his life.
Fred Lowrey, age 24, a Texas entertainer came to New York City less than three months earlier, hoping to break into show business with more than $500 in his pocket and high hopes and dream.
Everyone loved him back home in Dallas where he was a popular whistler on “The Early Bird” radio show on WFAA. His ability to whistle two notes at a time set him apart from every other whistler. Fred had been working for more than five years on the radio. He made personal appearances and joined a traveling-road show. He thought he knew about tough times, but New York City was proving to be more than he could endure. Things cost more in New York than he planned. No one thought Fred was the headliner he was back home.
Fred sat across from the banker. The pent-up frustrations of the past few days, even his entire life, were aimed directly at the banker. Fred was tired of answering repeatedly the questions of the sighted who wanted to know how Fred could do the simplest tasks. He was tired of the complements and then the dismissals of the agents, managers, musicians, entertainers, hotel staff, and even the experts from the school for the blind back in Texas who told him not to go into show business.
The story spilled out of Fred. That past Thursday Fred earned $300 on the Rudy Vallee radio show, his first real break and big paycheck since coming to New York. The next day Fred went to Buckley’s bank and cashed the check. He hid the money in a drawer in his hotel room. Not long after he arrived back at his hotel, the red-headed, chatty lady he met on the Greyhound bus coming to New York showed up at his hotel room. While she was there, Fred received a call from an agent in the lobby of his hotel who wanted to see him urgently before he left town. The agent said he could get Fred many jobs but needed to sign him up right away. Fred left the young woman in his hotel room and met the man.
After talking to the agent for a few minutes, Fred became suspicious, something did not seem right. Just as suddenly, the man said he had to go, handed Fred his business card and left. Fred returned to his room to find that his room was in shambles and his money, and the young lady were gone.
Fred went downstairs and asked the bellman who helped him out on a regular basis if he saw a young lady with red hair leave the hotel.
“Yes, she came down just before you finished talking to that man. The two left together.” the bellman said. “Is anything wrong?”
Everything was wrong. Fred now only had a few dollars left and one traveler’s check that were tucked in his wallet. He called the police, and they confirmed his fears. A pair of confidence crooks had hustled Fred. Fred asked the police officer why she had not tried to rob him when they first met. The police officer suggested that because Fred was dressed nicely, wearing fancy cowboy boots and a Stetson had, (that he lost the first day in New York) that he was a wealthy oil man. But when she discovered he was blind, she dismissed him as a mark. When she heard him on the radio the night before, she and her accomplice came back for the score.
The business card from the fake agent turned out to be a card advertising the hotel. Fred waited all weekend for word from the police that they had found his money. When he called Monday morning, the police said they had no leads. His money was gone.
The weekly rent of $12.50 for his hotel room was due so he went to the front desk to cash his travelers check. The clerk and the manager informed him he had endorsed the check incorrectly and they could not take it.
With the minimal vision Fred had, he printed his name on the back of the check. Because he was upset, he signed his last name as “Loowrey” that did not match the name of Lowrey on the front. Fred did not have enough cash left to pay his rent, so the hotel referred him to the bank.
Fred had no trust in bankers. His Grandma and uncle who raised him and his three older sisters, after the death of their mother and their supposed abandonment of their father, lost what little they had at their bank in the market crash of 1929. Fred grew up poor and no banker ever offered to help anyone, especially his grandmother or uncle.
He did not have the money to go back to Texas. If he did, it would prove the principal and teachers from the school for the blind who told him from the time he entered the school at age 7, that he should have never got his hopes up. The blindness professionals told him that the entertainment world was crewel and unaccepting of the blind. Besides, NO ONE makes a living by whistling!
Only a few years ago, Fred was at the end of his financial rope. The rehabilitation agency for the blind in Texas told him that his best bet was to become a door-to-door salesman. He would do well they said because he was young and good looking. All the housewives would feel sorry for him as a blind man and buy what ever he sold. Their theory proved to be correct. But Fred did not want to be known for his blindness, rather he wanted to be known for his talents as a whistler.
Fred refused to be the failure everyone expected, so he set out for the bank. At the bank, the teller said he could not cash the travelers check either for the same reason. The Teller suggested Fred mail back the cashiers check to the bank in Dallas that issued it originally and they could re-issue a new one and mail it back to him.
“I don’t have time for that.” Fred said in frustration and the teller suggested Fred talk to the manager, Mr. Buckley.
When Fred finished his story, his anger was spent. Mr. Buckley apologized for insulting Fred and admitted he knew nothing about being blind. But the banker said he did know something about fiscal management and that he wanted to help Fred get back on track.
The two went to coffee while Fred continued his life’s story. Mr. Buckly told Fred that a banker had connections, and Fred should come back to see him in a few days. By then, he would have a plan for Fred.
With no other options, Fred went back to his hotel and worked on his current contacts until his appointment with Mr. Buckly.
“OK, here are my suggestions.” Mr. Buckly began. “You need to move out of your hotel.”
“I can’t!” Fred said. “I need sighted people around me to help me. I can’t live on my own. I cannot cook.”
The banker agreed as he knew little about blindness, but did help need to be in a hotel? The banker continued explaining his plan. Fred could not afford to eat out every day. Fred should move into an apartment at only $7 a week with another man who needed a roommate. The roommate would cook. Fred could clean. The banker said Fred’s ideas for getting appointments in the offices of the entertainment executives was a good one, but not the only way. He laid out several options that Fred had never considered.
Buckly also said the bank would give him a loan of $300 and place it in an interest-bearing account. When Fred earned money, it was to be deposited into the account and once a month Fred would draw out money for the month based on the budget they agreed on.
Fred agreed and within a day, he moved into the tiny apartment and met his new roommate who proved to be a major source of help and information. The two became friends. His new roommate was curious about everything and loved to explore the city. No one ever taught Fred to travel as a blind man like his new roommate did without even knowing he was doing it.
True to his word, in a few days Mr. Buckley called him and told him to dress formally, and he would pick him up later that night. The banker showed up and drove Fred to the Plaza Hotel where socialite Clara Belle Walch was hosting one of her famous parties. Mr. Buckly introduced him to Clara Belle, who introduced him to many of the guests. The ones he remembered included Jimmy Durante, Fanny Brice, Mae West, and Ethel Merman.
Clara Belle asked Fred to whistle a few tunes for her guests. He did and everyone applauded with enthusiasm. Drunk on the atmosphere of the party, Fred’s second glass of champagne was taken away by Mr. Buckly who said it was time to go. Fred protested but followed. Buckly told Fred that one thing he had to learn was when to leave, a lesson he benefitted from for the rest of his life.
What became of Fred you ask?
His music career blossomed. Fred joined bands such as the Horace Heidt and Vincent Lopez bands and became a band member, whistling in place of a piccolo or as a lead vocalist. Later he did find his niche as a solo performer. His first single, “Indian Love Call” that sold over two million records hit the charts in 1939. Fred has more than ten albums to his credit. Over the years, he whistled the theme to films such as “The High and Mighty.”
In later life, Fred returned to the Texas School for the Blind to perform for future blind musicians. On the school stage he was a living, breathing example that a former student could make it big in the entertainment field. He traveled, performing for schools and talking about himself and being blind.
Fred wrote his autobiography after encouragement from his son. You can find the book, “Whistling in the Dark” on several used book sites.
Peggy Chong is the 2018 and 2023 Jacob Bolotin Award Winner.
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The Blind History Lady
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(Posted to honor our own Johnnie Johnson of Innervision Records and his stable of artists with disabilities – but not disabled!)
Reprinted in full with permission from Ms. Chong. Thank you, Ms. Chong!
[I remember hearing Mr. Lowrey’s recordings when I was young. His whistling was like a virtuoso playing the finest flute. So clear. So bell-like. So in perfect pitch. Try to find one of his songs. You’ll love it!]