Connie Converse

The Profile

Connie Converse (born Elizabeth Eaton Converse, 1924, Laconia, New Hampshire) was an American singer-songwriter whose intimate 1950s New York kitchen recordings went unheard for decades. Recorded by Gene Deitch and briefly featured on CBS’s The Morning Show with Walter Cronkite in 1954, she left music, moved to Ann Arbor in 1961, and worked at the Journal of Conflict Resolution. After leaving farewell letters, she disappeared in 1974. Her recordings were compiled and released in 2009 as How Sad, How Lovely.

Recorded in 1954 by Gene Deitch; appeared on CBS’s The Morning Show (1954); moved to Ann Arbor (1961); disappeared after farewell letters (1974); archival album How Sad, How Lovely released in 2009 (producers Dan Dzula and David Herman; Squirrel Thing Recordings); rediscovered via David Garland’s Spinning on Air (2004).

A 5-star, poetic portrait of Connie Converse: her intimate 1950s kitchen recordings, the industry’s indifference, her quiet life in Ann Arbor, and her 1974 disappearance. The review traces her rediscovery from Gene Deitch’s tapes to the 2009 release How Sad, How Lovely and later reissues. It frames her as a foundational singer-songwriter finally heard.