<p>[Pianist</a> Van Cliburn has died at 78 - TODAY Entertainment](<a href=“http://todayentertainment.today.com/_news/2013/02/27/17118844-pianist-van-cliburn-has-died-at-78]Pianist”>http://todayentertainment.today.com/_news/2013/02/27/17118844-pianist-van-cliburn-has-died-at-78)</p>
<p>Saying goodbye to another talent</p>
<p>I was saddened to hear this. He got an 8-minute standing ovation from his Russian audience at the height of the Cold War. He was a terrific performer.</p>
<p>I saw him at the Hollywood Bowl a long time ago. He was magical.</p>
<p>The judges got permission from Khruschev to give him the prize. Khruschev said, “I don’t care if he’s American. If he’s the best, he gets the prize.”</p>
<p>:( he was a legend</p>
<p>I began to listen to classical music because of him.</p>
<p>May he rest in peace.</p>
<p>He was such a fixture around here. I was saddened years go when his mother died. She was quite the character. Rilda Bee (love the name!) was a concert pianist herself whose father discouraged her ambitions.</p>
<p>Van Cliburn was a close friend of my parents - such a sweet and gracious man. When I was a teenager, I was so thrilled that he played “my” piano at a party at our house. Of course, I could never seem to make it sound the same. My dad died in October, and now Mr. Cliburn - a generation passes.</p>