My Night With Falconer, Sondheim & A Pig

The three of us — Ian Falconer, Stephen Sondheim, and I — were walking down the street in NYC after a downtown dinner given by a mutual friend for the launch of my novel, “Last Night.”. Sondheim was going on and on about a recent revival of one of his shows. I tried to include Ian in the conversation, but Sondheim kept steering it back to himself. We’d all had a drink too many, but I’d finally had too much of the conversation as well. “Steve,” I said, “Ian’s children’s book, ‘Olivia,’ is currently number one on the New York Times best-seller list. How many of your shows have ever been number one in Broadway’s weekly grosses?” We walked along in silence for a few moments. “So Ian,” Steve said, “tell me about Olivia.” We talked about the pig in a taxi all the way uptown. Rest in peace, dear Ian.

Leave a Comment