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Published 8 years after her death, Mary Rodgers' memoir is a true tell-all book

Rodgers, the daughter of theatrical legend Richard Rogers, was a songwriter, children's book author and philanthropist. Her memoir, Shy: The Alarmingly Outspoken Memoirs of Mary Rodgers, is out now.
Mary Rodgers and Jesse Green, co-authors of <em>Shy: The Alarmingly Outspoken Memoirs of Mary Rodgers</em>

Mary Rodgers was a songwriter, children's book author, philanthropist and — perhaps most famously — the daughter of theatrical legend Richard Rodgers. Though she died in 2014, her memoirs were published on Tuesday. Titled Shy: The Alarmingly Outspoken Memoirs of Mary Rodgers, they're co-authored by New York Times theater critic Jesse Green.

The book, the product of hundreds of hours Green spent with Rodgers, has extensive, entertaining, even gossipy footnotes on just about every page. There's an asterisk after the very first word, "Daddy," and the note explains: "If you've read this far, you probably know that Daddy was Richard Rodgers (1902-1979): composer, womanizer, alcoholic, genius."

"What I wanted was her voice," Green explains, saying he didn't want to clog the narrative with a

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