Cecil Mack (November 6, 1873 – August 1, 1944) was an American composer, lyricist and music publisher.
[1][2] Born as Richard Cecil McPherson in Portsmouth, Virginia, he attended the Norfolk Mission College and Lincoln University in Pennsylvania (class of 1897) before leaving to go to New York City where the 1900 Federal Census lists his occupation as a stenographer.
[4] In July 1906, an article in The New York Age referred to Mack as the company's "secretary and treasurer and general business director.
His birthdate is also given as 1880[7] and 1883, and an 1876 date is shown by his World War I Draft Registration card, as referenced above, and the 1900 US Census, but an 1891 Navy Enlistment Record and the 1880 Federal census both point to an 1873 birth year.
His songs were as American as Stephen Foster's – one or two of them may be remembered as long – and were typically representative of the pre-radio era when fortunes were made over the 10-cent-store counters.