As far as I know, White and Hartley never met, though I suspect the two gifted men would have lit each other up.
Like Hartley, White had a deep soft spot for the elderly. In the early ‘90s, White performed charity concerts for the North Coast Alzheimer’s Center in Solana Beach.
“Alzheimer’s, schmalzheimers,” White told a reporter. “As far as I’m concerned, anyone over the age of 70 should get what they want.”
With a glint in his eye, Hartley once said of his gray-haired autobiographers: “They can write whatever they want. As long as it’s not pornographic.”
I imagine the old teacher, like the younger White, would have understood if a life’s story happened to turn a bit blue.