Mathematician, NSA Insider, and Comedy Legend Tom Lehrer Dead at 97

 Tom Lehrer, the brilliant mathematician and sharp-tongued satirist behind songs like “The Vatican Rag,” “Poisoning Pigeons in the Park,”, and “The Elements,” has died at 97. A child prodigy who entered Harvard at 15, Lehrer balanced a career in academia, military service, and comedy songwriting that influenced generations of performers.

Born April 9, 1928, Lehrer earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mathematics from Harvard before beginning a short but legendary career in musical satire. Known for his clever lyrics and dark humor, Lehrer began recording his songs in the 1950s and selling records through word of mouth. Then in 1955, he was drafted into the U.S. Army.

Despite his academic credentials, Lehrer served as an enlisted soldier, assigned to the then-classified National Security Agency. He joked that his rank—Specialist Third Class—made him a “corporal without portfolio.” His two years in uniform shaped some of his most famous works, including “It Makes a Fellow Proud to Be a Soldier,” which poked fun at Army life with humor and affection. In live performances, he often quipped that he was “now, of course, in the radioactive reserve.”

While stationed on a Navy base in D.C., Lehrer also claims to have helped invent the modern Jell-O shot, mixing vodka with orange Jell-O to sidestep military alcohol restrictions during a holiday party.

After leaving the Army in 1957, Lehrer recorded more albums and performed around the country, eventually contributing songs to television shows before essentially stepping back from entertainment in the 1970s. He retired from teaching in 2001.

Although Lehrer wrote just 37 songs across his brief musical career, his impact was immense. Performers like “Weird Al” Yankovic credit him as a key influence. “My last living musical hero is still my hero but unfortunately no longer living,” Yankovic posted after Lehrer’s death.

Tom Lehrer passed away on July 26 at his home in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His friend David Herder confirmed the death.

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