Testimonials about Kleban

Susan Sandberg was used as one of the inspirations for the character of Sophie. She was Kleban's friend since high school. She rememebered how much Kleban loved to talk. He would phone her late at night and read The New Yorker's entire J.D. Salinger story from the latest issue. In the last months of Kleban's life, he was unable to speak due to his illness. She would tease him about having to learn to listen.

Jonathan Tunick was a friend of Kleban's from the High School of Music & Art. They were friends for 35 years. Before Kleban lost his ability to speak, he had called Tunick to tell him how much he valued his friendship. Tunick's testimony was paraphrased by Bobby in A Class Act:
"With Ed it's easy to say, " too bad he wrote so litte." To me the miracle is that he wrote so much. I've never known anybody who exemplified more the expression," the courage to create." Knowing him as well as I did, I know what it must have cost him to break through that familiar fascade, the witty Ed, the self assured, articulate Ed- I used to tease him that he was the only person I knew who used " moto" as a verb- that erudite, perfect Ed- to break through that and expose to us for those few moments that it takes to hear a song, the "real" Ed."

Lynn Ahrens was a BMI workshop member as a lyricist- librettist. She states,
" The legacy he (Kleban) left is the process. Looking at every word and making every word count."

Maury Yeston was a workshop collegue of Kleban. He is a composer and lyricist who was incoled with Nine and Grand Hotel. He states," I've been tremendously influenced by him. He influenced a whole generation of writers. He had a wonderful sense of humanity towards his fellow writers."

Suzanne Bixby was a student of Kleban's at BMI and a friend of Linda Kline. She states Kleban was a "fabalous teacher and mentor."

Linda Kline, Kleban's long-time girlfriend before his death, was asked what Ed would have "celebrated- or decryed about the state of the musical during the 2000-2001 season when A Class Act opened on Broadway." She replied :
" He would celebrate that musical theatre is alive and well in the 21st century. He would send notes to the creators of shows he admired; he would walk out on the shows he didn't like- and he would know by the second number."