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 LAST NIGHT WHEN WE WERE YOUNG - CONCLUSION Harold Arlen wrote over 50 songs between 1961 and 1976 and continued to 
        enjoy a successful career. For example, in 1961 he wrote the music for 
        Gay Purr-ee and collaborated with Peggy Lee (lyrics) to write Happy 
        With the Blues. Additionally, he worked with lyricist  Dory 
        Langdon to write So Long, Big Time! in 1963, and Fine 
        Kind of Freedom in 1965 with lyricist Martin Charnin. He even 
        completed a work entitled Blues Opera Suite, which premiered 
        in Minneapolis on August 27, 1957 and was performed by Andre Kostelanetz 
        at Carnegie Hall with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra on November 
        2, 1957.
  Sadly, 
        the latter years of Harold's life were not spent basking in the glory 
        of his success. Harold was distraught when he lost his wife to a brain 
        tumor. For years, Anya had been having difficulty with speech and motor 
        control. The once celebrated model had become almost unrecognizable. Yet 
        Harold's love for her remained constant - with the same intensity as when 
        he first met her. Anya Taranda Arlen died on March 9, 1970.
  After 
        Anya's death, Harold seemed to lose interest in life. The man who loved 
        to socialize withdrew from friends and even family. Depressed over Anya's 
        passing, having difficulty sleeping, and suffering from Parkinson's Disease, 
        he rarely went out or attended performances. On April 23, 1986, Harold 
        Arlen succumbed to cancer. He died quietly at home with family in his 
        apartment on Central Park West in New York City. He was 81 years old.
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