Paul Hume

By VARIETY STAFF

Esteemed music critic Paul Hume, who famously drew the ire of President Harry Truman after he panned daughter Margaret Truman's recital, died Monday Nov. 26 of pneumonia at his home in Baltimore. He was 85.

Hume worked for the Washington Post and built a reputation as one of the most learned critics in the nation. Classical music's Vladimir Horowitz, Eugene Ormandy and Leonard Bernstein held Hume in high regard.

Despite that, Hume is best remembered for his review of a recital by Truman's daughter in 1950, in which he diplomatically -- and then again not so -- described her singing as flat. After reading the review, Truman wrote an angry, threatening letter to Hume-- which got Truman into hot water with the public, which felt he shouldn't take time out from the Korean War to battle critics.

A Chicago native, Hume taught music history at Georgetown from 1950 to 1977 and was a visiting professor at Yale from 1975 to 1983.

He wrote several books, including a study of Catholic church music and a biography of Giuseppe Verdi.