Gene Raskin was a very accomplished person - first, an architect, then
a professor at Columbia University, then, a "variety act" duo with his
wife: "Gene & Francesca", and, most notably, but definitely not most
fascinating; Gene adapted a melody sung to him as a child by his
Russian mother: this became the folk-pop song, "Those Were the Days",
recorded by Mary Hopkin and produced by Paul McCartney.
