Episode Details

I loved this conversation.

Nancy Shear is one of those people you meet and immediately want to know more about. She is smart, funny, curious, completely engaging, and she has lived an extraordinary life surrounded by some of the greatest musicians of the twentieth century.

Her story began when she was just fifteen years old when curiosity led her through a stage door and into the world of classical music. What happened after that is an incredible journey.

Nancy spent decades behind the scenes, getting to know the people behind the music, their personalities, their passions, their struggles, their brilliance, and their very human sides. She worked with legendary figures, including Leopold Stokowski, and experienced a world that most of us have only seen from the audience.

Her memoir, I Knew a Man Who Knew Brahms, brings those stories to life, but our conversation went far beyond music. We talked about following your instincts, finding your place in a world that wasn't always ready for you, the unexpected turns a life can take, and what we learn when we have the privilege of looking back.

Nancy has so much to share and I came away from our conversation inspired by her curiosity and her spirit. And especially the beautiful way she has continued to embrace life.

I think you'll understand exactly why I loved talking with her.

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