There are worse musicians to emulate than Irving Berlin. He penned God Bless America, and the perennial classic White Christmas along with a whole host of other popular songs. Any songwriter would relish the royalties of either of these tunesand would probably both give their eyeteeth to have written them. Berlin knew the value of work. He didn’t believe in inspiration, but in effort. He wrote a song a day, regardless of fickle”inspiration.” The wonderful thing is that all of these musical accomplishments weren’t hampered by Berlin’s inability to read or write kusic. In fact, later in life, Berlin was convinced this inability was one of the factors in his success. He wasn’t limited by written music.