Terry Gross

And Lesser, as a composer and lyricist, is probably best known for writing the songs for Guys and Dolls.

But at the time, he was just getting started as a lyricist.

And so with Hoagy Carmichael, he wrote Small Fry, Heart and Soul, and Two Sleepy People.

I'm going to ask you to do Two Sleepy People.

It was sung by Bob Hope and Shirley Ross in the 1938 movie Thanks for the Memory.

It's a wonderful song.

Would you do it for us?

Yeah.

I think that's one of the most successfully conversational songs I know, both in the lyric and in the music.

Well, it makes it really easy to sing as a duet that way.

Well, the next Hoagy Carmichael song I'd like you to do for us is called The Nearness of You.

And although it's one of his most recorded songs, I don't think it's nearly as well known as his other famous songs like Skylock and Stardust and Rock and Share in Georgia.

The lyric is by Ned Washington, who was given Hoagy's melody by the Paramount Studio, and the song was used for the 1938 movie Romance in the Dark.

Would you do The Nearness of You?

That was lovely.

This is Fresh Air.

I'm Terry Gross.

My guest is the critically acclaimed, best-selling author Julian Barnes.

He was diagnosed six years ago with a rare form of blood cancer, but it's not a death sentence.

It's treatable, which means he'll be on a chemo drug for the rest of his life.