The cause was injuries suffered from a fall, said Dale Olson, a publicist and his longtime friend. Nearly two years ago Mr. Levinson received a diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, the neurodegenerative disease popularly called Lou Gehrigs disease. With the aid of his talking computer he was able to write and carry on business until the day he died.
Mr. Levinson handled publicity for stars including Dave Brubeck, Rosemary Clooney, Stan Getz, Woody Herman, the Modern Jazz Quartet and Mel Torm. He publicized the hit television series Dallas and the film Kramer vs. Kramer (1979), which won an Academy Award for best picture. He helped to orchestrate the campaign to issue a postage stamp honoring Duke Ellington.
In an interview in 2004 with Tom Nolan on the Web site januarymagazine.com, Mr. Levinson said he had never planned to become an author.
I cant say that I set a path for myself to do this.It just occurred to me. If you work as a publicist, youre working not only with artists but with managers and agents and so forth. You get an understanding of what careers are all about.
Peter Levinson
Mr. Levinsons first book was Trumpet Blues: The Life of Harry James (1999), a biography of the trumpeter and bandleader. Mr. Levinson mined his reminiscences from 24 years of knowing James, as well as from 200 interviews with musicians and Jamess friends, to paint a portrait that pulled few punches.
Long before there was sex, drugs and rock and roll, there was sex, alcohol and big-band swing, People magazine said about the book. And as this surprisingly absorbing biography suggests, trumpet player Harry James could have been the role model for Mick Jagger.
Mr. Levinson next wrote September in the Rain: The Life of Nelson Riddle (2001), about the arranger known for his work with Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald and Nat King Cole. Variety praised Mr. Levinsons detailed description of the artistic and personal relationship between Sinatra and Riddle, again drawing from his experiences with both. But the review also complained that mountains of mundane detail got in the way of the Sinatra story.
