Cole Porter Composer and lyricist Peru, Indiana, June 9, 1893; Santa Monica, California, October 15, 1964. Porter studied violin and piano as a child. He came from wealth and social position, yet he wanted to become part of the Alley. More precisely, he wanted to write musical comedies. His first hit, “Old-Fashioned Garden” (1919), was a simple, sentimental song from Hitchy-Koo of 1919, not the smart, sophisticated stuff he had been writing as an undergraduate at Yale. His next hit, “I’m in…