Frances W. Preston

The Year of Tony Bennett would like to acknowledge the passing of someone most of us have never heard of: Frances W. Preston. Ms. Preston died on June 13 at the age of 83.
Ms. Preston, who was a past president and chief executive officer of Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI), spent her career defending the copyrights held by songwriters. She testified before Congress in support of the Copyright Renewal Act of 1992. We admire her for her unwavering support of composers, lyricists, and performers.

You can read her obituary in The New York Times.

The Tony Bennett connection? Ms. Preston’s first job included answering fan mail for Hank Williams, who composed Cold, Cold Heart.