Laying bare a life less ordinary

"He talked in a very natural way to young people-not in a baby way but to talk to them like they were real people," Jamie says, adding that her father wasn't afraid to be silly-he knew he was a terrible singer, but he also knew it would amuse the children in the audience to hear him sing a Beatles song.

He was the best teacher of all time according to Bright Sheng, Chinese-American composer and one of the maestro's students at Tanglewood, the summer home for the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

"We were learning without knowing, because he was deep in the music all the time. Most importantly, I learned from him the artists' responsibility to society, which supports the arts," says Sheng.

Bernstein says: "If my father had the ability, he would have hugged every single person in the world. He just had so much love and the urge to connect with people, and he did that very much with his own music."

However, she is so honest in the memoir that the fans of her father should proceed with a degree of caution if they don't wish to see the genius exposed bare as a flawed human being.

"After all, this book is about her life and her experiences with two very creative and special people. Her experiences were unique to her," says Craig Urquhart, who had been Leonard Bernstein's personal assistant since 1985 and has continued to work with his family to promote and honor the maestro's legacy.

Contact the writer at fangaiqing@chinadaily.com.cn