My journey to become a physician was initially directed by my father. Unwittingly, as a young man I never realized until now that parental indifference turned out to be parental wisdom. My story is a complicated but universal father -son saga. What was special in this narrative was that my dad, Richard Tucker, was an iconic figure and legendary operatic tenor. My ambition was to follow him onto the opera stage, but his vision for me was to become a doctor. Growing up with this powerful man was not easy and at times humiliating. Our clash of wills was both frustrating and hilarious. This odyssey of music and medicine was played out on various stages around the world, but finally the last act revealed my true destiny.
In my formative years, my family lived modestly in Brooklyn, New York where my father held the esteemed position of cantor at the Brooklyn Jewish Center and where Rabbi Israel Leventhal was its renowned spiritual leader. However, once my father joined the Metropolitan Opera Company in 1945 as a leading tenor and became an international superstar, our lives dramatically changed. It was CAMELOT! Going to the Met and watching my father perform, multiple television appearances, traveling abroad to many countries, illustrious guests at our dinner table, and visiting the White House. My dad sang for five American Presidents.
So, was it unreasonable for me then to believe that I could follow in his footsteps?
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