Kay Swift, 95; Songwriter Wrote Broadway Tunes, Book

Kay Swift, pioneering woman songwriter whose semi-autobiographical novel “Who Could Ask for Anything More” was made into a film, died Thursday in Southington, Conn. She was 95.

Miss Swift died of Alzheimer’s disease at the Alzheimer’s Resource Center, said Guy McCain, a Los Angeles publicist for the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers.

Her grandson, John Kaufman of Boston, said Miss Swift’s best-known songs were three from her 1930 Broadway musical titled “Fine and Dandy.” The songs were “Fine and Dandy,” “Can’t We Be Friends?” and “Can This Be Love?” with lyrics by her first husband, banker James Warburg.

Miss Swift’s novel, based on her life, was written in the late 1940s, her grandson said. In 1951 it was turned into the film “Never a Dull Moment,” starring Irene Dunne as the pseudo Miss Swift. The author and composer scored the film, including the popular songs “Once You Find Your Guy” and “Sagebrush Lullaby.”

Her other songs included “It’s a Wonderful Day for a Picnic,” “Calliope,” “Up Among the Chimney Pots,” “Forever and a Day,” “A Moonlight Memory,” “I Gotta Take Off My Hat to You” and “In-Between Age.”

Deploring the emergence of rock ‘n’ roll, the traditional songwriter commented during a lecture at the Beverly Hills Hotel in 1959: “American music has suffered a temporary lull--especially in the popular field. It’s practically impossible to tell one tune from another except for the words.”

Miss Swift was a longtime friend of composer George Gershwin, and helped him transcribe his compositions and lectured widely on his music. She assisted his brother, Ira, in preparing some of his work posthumously for use in films.

A native of New York City, Miss Swift studied at the Juilliard School of Music and the New England Conservatory.

Survivors include two daughters, April Galiono of Rome and Andrea Kaufman of Los Angeles; six grandchildren, including Kaufman, and 12 great-grandchildren.