mother and through his long friendship with DuValle, who introduced him to piano-jazz improvisation. Carmichael's professional music career began in 1918 when he earned $5 playing at a college fraternity dance at Indiana University.

The death of Carmichael's three-year-old sister in 1918, likely due to the Spanish flu pandemic, deeply affected him. He later reflected, "My sister Joanne--the victim of poverty. We couldn't afford a good doctor or good attention, and that's when I vowed I would never