◆ SpookStack

é 2] Such questions do not bother the successful Sinatra. He has a philosophy. Like him, it is strai;htforward and direct. “The trick is, when you’re down, don’t quit.” A fighters thought to live by -— and above all else, Sinatra is a fighter. The Crown Prince of Song has grown up. He looks better, sings better, performs better. If he is not happy, he is at least content, with the deep sat- isfying contentment that comes with knowledge of doing a difficult job and doing it well. He works hard, fortifies himself with seven doughnuts and seven cups of coffee each morning (his lucky num- ber is seven .., all fighters are superstitious). And although he lives quietly, perhaps in loneliness, his apt description of the present state of affairs is phrased with happy cogency, “Man, I’m on top of the world! ’'m buoyant!” Time magazine, in its last issue in 1954, reported: “The *magazine Downbeat (Everything in the World about the World of Music) published its annual reader’s popularity poll last week, decided that ‘this was the year’ of Frank Sinatra.” He won the Downbeat vote as America’s favorite pop singer (for the first time since 1947) and also as the top male pop-record personality of the year. All this . in addition to his prize-winning film perform- ances and best-selling records and albums. The Crown Prince of Song reigns again. 63