Hoagy Carmichael, whose name came up at work recently, was a songwriter, very successful, particularly in the ’30s and ’40s. He wrote hundreds of songs, including the music for “Heart and Soul,” “Georgia on My Mind,” and “Stardust.”
According to Wikipedia, in his late life he once said, “I’m a bit disappointed in myself. I know I could have accomplished a hell of a lot more. . . . I could write anything any time I wanted to. But I let other things get in the way.” It seems crazy to me that he thought so, given how much he had done, but I read it as a warning. I dread having similar feelings someday, when it’s too late to do anything about it. If that’s something that I truly hope to avoid, then now is the time to take action.
Also–and this was the most surprising thing that I learned about him–Ian Fleming compared James Bond’s appearance to Hoagy Carmichael’s in two novels. So if you ever want to know what 007 really looks like, you need search no further than that Wikipedia article, which contains his picture. I wish sometimes that I’d had access to this kind of information when I was younger. It could have made the study of history and historical figures a lot more interesting!