I'm a TV news anchor living in Los Angeles and would like to tell my Dr. Wu experience. In about 1991 or so I was working for KSBW TV in Salinas, California. A young female reporter came to work for us from a station in Honolulu. Her name was Janet Wu. She was a lovely girl and very bright. People who know me will tell you that I have a habit of singing out loud while I'm writing news copy and I'm a huge Steely Dan fan. One day while sitting at the typewriter I began singing Dr. Wu. Janet passed by my desk and heard me singing. She stopped and said, "that song is about my dad." I laughed and said,"yeah right." She told me she was serious and went on to tell me the following story. Donald Fagen's mother, whose name is Kathryn, kept secret from Donald the fact that she had a serious heart disorder. Her condition eventually worsened to the point where her poor health became obvious to Donald, who was livid over the fact that she had lied to him about her health. He immediately sought out a doctor who could treat Kathryn's rare condition. That's where heart specialist Dr. Wu comes in. He had a practice in Florida (Biscayne Bay). Janet describes her father as being "kinda weird." That is he is very old school Chinese in his ways. She told me that Westerners find him to be socially inept. Fagen obviously found this to be true when they met. (Are you crazy, are you wise, or just an ordinary guy? Have you done all you can do? Are you with me Doctor?) Shortly after Janet told me the story I did some research on her father and confirmed that he was indeed a Florida heart surgeon. I never confirmed Dr. Wu's contact with Fagen's mother.
I have no doubt that Dr. Wu inspired the song. As a song writer myself I can tell you that songs very often end up quite distant from their point of inspiration. They take many twists and turns during the writing process. I think this is true in the development of the song Dr. Wu.
My friend, Janet Wu continued her television reporting career. The last I heard she was working in Boston. I've often thought about contacting her to go over some of the details of her story. Maybe someone else can do that. For now I think I'll listen to some Steely Dan.
@Song boy The only thing is though Donald Fagen's mother's name is Eleanor, not Kathryn. Mr. Fagen talks about her with great love and pride in his book "Eminent Hipsters." She was a semi-professional jazz singer.
@Song boy The only thing is though Donald Fagen's mother's name is Eleanor, not Kathryn. Mr. Fagen talks about her with great love and pride in his book "Eminent Hipsters." She was a semi-professional jazz singer.
@Song boy Dr Wu must have been really good cuz his mom lived quite awhile. Read an article written in 2000 that described her as a “spunky 77 year old”. She died in 2003 almost 29 years after the song came out
@Song boy Dr Wu must have been really good cuz his mom lived quite awhile. Read an article written in 2000 that described her as a “spunky 77 year old”. She died in 2003 almost 29 years after the song came out
I'm a TV news anchor living in Los Angeles and would like to tell my Dr. Wu experience. In about 1991 or so I was working for KSBW TV in Salinas, California. A young female reporter came to work for us from a station in Honolulu. Her name was Janet Wu. She was a lovely girl and very bright. People who know me will tell you that I have a habit of singing out loud while I'm writing news copy and I'm a huge Steely Dan fan. One day while sitting at the typewriter I began singing Dr. Wu. Janet passed by my desk and heard me singing. She stopped and said, "that song is about my dad." I laughed and said,"yeah right." She told me she was serious and went on to tell me the following story. Donald Fagen's mother, whose name is Kathryn, kept secret from Donald the fact that she had a serious heart disorder. Her condition eventually worsened to the point where her poor health became obvious to Donald, who was livid over the fact that she had lied to him about her health. He immediately sought out a doctor who could treat Kathryn's rare condition. That's where heart specialist Dr. Wu comes in. He had a practice in Florida (Biscayne Bay). Janet describes her father as being "kinda weird." That is he is very old school Chinese in his ways. She told me that Westerners find him to be socially inept. Fagen obviously found this to be true when they met. (Are you crazy, are you wise, or just an ordinary guy? Have you done all you can do? Are you with me Doctor?) Shortly after Janet told me the story I did some research on her father and confirmed that he was indeed a Florida heart surgeon. I never confirmed Dr. Wu's contact with Fagen's mother. I have no doubt that Dr. Wu inspired the song. As a song writer myself I can tell you that songs very often end up quite distant from their point of inspiration. They take many twists and turns during the writing process. I think this is true in the development of the song Dr. Wu. My friend, Janet Wu continued her television reporting career. The last I heard she was working in Boston. I've often thought about contacting her to go over some of the details of her story. Maybe someone else can do that. For now I think I'll listen to some Steely Dan.
@Song boy I saw on Janet Wu's FB page where she shouts out to SD about exactly what Song boy says.
@Song boy I saw on Janet Wu's FB page where she shouts out to SD about exactly what Song boy says.
@Song boy The only thing is though Donald Fagen's mother's name is Eleanor, not Kathryn. Mr. Fagen talks about her with great love and pride in his book "Eminent Hipsters." She was a semi-professional jazz singer.
@Song boy The only thing is though Donald Fagen's mother's name is Eleanor, not Kathryn. Mr. Fagen talks about her with great love and pride in his book "Eminent Hipsters." She was a semi-professional jazz singer.
@Song boy Dr Wu must have been really good cuz his mom lived quite awhile. Read an article written in 2000 that described her as a “spunky 77 year old”. She died in 2003 almost 29 years after the song came out
@Song boy Dr Wu must have been really good cuz his mom lived quite awhile. Read an article written in 2000 that described her as a “spunky 77 year old”. She died in 2003 almost 29 years after the song came out