CAROLE ANNE KAUFMAN

A friend sent me this cartoon today, because she is amused (or amazed) about my impromptu singing habits and the fact that I take cartoons from The New Yorker to my doctor, who shares my warped sense of humor! She wrote: "Every time I hear you start singing in public I'll remind you that you have a staff infection!"

As is my wont, during the Christmas season, I was singing a Christmas song while shopping. A woman pushing her cart in front of me began whistling the tune along with me. We both stopped and I said how much I loved whistling, but I could not whistle. She said that she loved singing, but that she couldn't sing worth a darn! I said that we were a match made in Hollywood-musical heaven! I told her about my husband's saying that being with my family was like being in a Hollywood musical! We discussed how much we loved Bing Crosby's whistling in different songs.

Just yesterday I saw her again and she said, "You're the singer!" She then turned to a woman with her and said, "This is the woman I was telling you about." We both agreed that people thought the both of us strange for singing and whistling in public! She said her family is constantly embarrassed by her behavior!

I said, "I meant to mention Carole Anne Kaufman to you." She asked, "Who is that?" I said, "Probably the greatest whistler ever!" She asked, "Is she from around here?" I said, "Oh, no, she's a world champion whistler; there are whistling championships; you can see them on YouTube."

I told her that there has been classical music written for whistling.

Listen to Carole Anne Kaufman perform Ave Maria.