GUEST: I bought it from the Johnny Mercer estate. I thought it was an interesting painting because he was from Savannah, and I did know him.
APPRAISER: Johnny Mercer was certainly one of the great songwriters and lyricists of the 20th century. Worked with Harold Arlen and Hoagy Carmichael and wrote things like "Accentuate the Positive" for Bing Crosby, and "Moon River" for Henry Mancini, later. But we don't know him as a painter. Apparently, it was a hobby of his that he did. And this one's dated 1965, and his last great hit was "Days of Wine and Roses" in 1962. Did you pay a lot of money at the sale for it?
GUEST: No, I paid $20 for it.
APPRAISER: You paid $20. So this is about 20-some years ago, 25 years ago?
GUEST: Yeah, I guess it has been 15 to 20 years ago.
APPRAISER: About 20? Yeah. In the Savannah area, I think something like this would probably get about $800 to $1,000.
GUEST: Well, that's wonderful! My $20 paid off.
APPRAISER: I think so.
GUEST: I'm writing a book about my life, and this is going to be an interesting chapter.
