Newswise — Canton, New York - St. Lawrence University Class of 1924 graduate J. Kimball Gannon made a bequest to the school that provides a gift throughout the year, but it has even greater importance during the holiday season: the composer of the perennially popular "I'll Be Home For Christmas" left the University a portion of the royalties from his compositions.
Recorded by literally hundreds of artists over the years, new versions of the song have been released this season by a wide variety of performers, from vocalist Michael Bublé to jazz artist Dave Koz to quirky duo She & Him. Whenever the song is performed or played, it earns a royalty.
The song was written in 1943 by Gannon, with Walter Kent and Buck Ram, and first recorded by Bing Crosby. Meaningful to GIs and their loved ones at home during World War II, the song was more popular for a time than Crosby's "White Christmas."
Gannon, who also wrote St. Lawrence's alma mater, died in 1974 and his will stipulated that St. Lawrence receive 30 percent of the royalties from all of his compositions after his wife's death. His widow, Norma Allen Gannon, St. Lawrence Class of 1925, died in 2000.
To date this calendar year, the University has received close to $29,000 from the bequest, with the majority coming from royalties from recordings and performances of "I'll Be Home For Christmas." Annually, the amounts have ranged from about $20,000 to over $30,000.
Gannon was the composer of many popular songs from the Big Band era, and was nominated for four Academy Awards for his work.
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