Court clears way for sale of Ira Gershwin letters

[May 14, 2012]  NEW YORK (AP) -- A New York memorabilia dealer has settled a lawsuit that had sought to block him from selling 135 letters written by lyricist Ira Gershwin.

The Daily News reports (http://nydn.us/JlJ0yQ) that the settlement between memorabilia dealer Gary Zimet and the daughter of Gershwin's biographer was filed Friday in a Manhattan court.

The biographer's daughter, Carla Jablonski, had asked the court to block Zimet from selling the letters to the Library of Congress for $325,000.

Jablonski said in her lawsuit that the letters must have been stolen from her apartment. She hadn't accused Zimet of the theft.

Her father, Edward Jablonski, wrote several books on Gershwin including the 1958 biography "The Gershwin Years: George and Ira."

After he died, the family donated most of his Gershwin archive to the Library of Congress.

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Information from: Daily News, http://www.nydailynews.com/

[Associated Press]

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