The ragtime piano composer Scott Joplin was a virtual unknown when he died in 1917 at the approximate age of 49--his exact birth date remains obscure. As author Edward A. Berlin points out in his remarkably thorough biography of the musician, KING OF RAGTIME, any study of Joplin involves painstaking detective work into every aspect of his life. Thankfully, Berlin is a meticulous biographer, gradually unearthing a cornucopia of fascinating details of Joplin's life, from his early musical studies with a variety of teachers (at seven years of age, he was allowed to practice on the piano of a white family while his mother cleaned for them), to his admonition on the original manuscript of his famous composition Maple Leaf Rag not to play it too fast (it was frequently used as an exhibition piece for aspiring hotshot pianists). Joplin's prediction that his talent would be acknowledged only after his death came true some 27 years after that event, in 1944; however, it took the inclusion of his compositions in the 1973 movie THE STING for his music to finally achieve general public recognition. Copyright (C) Muze Inc. 2005. For personal use only. All rights reserved.