Harry Connick Jr. Swoops Into Houston and Shares His Mom’s Love In Emotional Appearance For Barbara Bush Foundation

In some ways it was Mother’s Day in the Post Oak Hotel ballroom as Emmy and Grammy Award winning talent Harry Connick Jr. shared the story of his mother’s life and her influence on his career with the 750 people who turned out in support of the Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundation’s Ladies for Literacy Guild’s 11th annual Power of Literacy Luncheon.

His memoir of the all too brief life of Anita-Francis Livingston Connick, Babe Elaboratio — A Tribute to My Mother, was published in late September. She died of ovarian cancer at age 55 when Connick was just 13 years old.

The celebrated entertainer was interviewed on stage by Houston Public Media host Ernie Manouse who deftly guided Connick through the telling discussion.

“My mother would have loved my perspective of my memories of her and my elaborations of those 13 years,” Connick says. “I was terrified that these snow globes of memories that I had would get shaken up. But now I have the book and the music for the rest of my life. Life is about these snapshots that we take in the present.”

Key to Connick’s telling was the revelation that his mother had hoped that her child prodigy would perform at Carnegie Hall. When he was around 10 years old and his mother had developed the cancer, the youngster called Carnegie Hall to ask how he might perform there. Only to reach the box office and  learn that selling tickets and booking performers were quite different.

Connick  waited decades to make his Carnegie Hall debut which occurred on May 22, 2026, what would have been mother’s 100th birthday. On that emotional night, he performed the symphony that he had written in her honor. He told these Houston luncheon guests that he declined to rehearse in the hall beforehand, preferring to save that moment for her.

The conversation segued back to the day’s mission relating his talent to the Barbara and George H.W. Bush presidency. Harry Connick shared that he had performed at the White House during the President and  First Lady Barbara Bush’s time in Washington.

“It was one of the great honors of my life,” Connick says.

The luncheon, which raised $750,000 for the Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundation, was chaired by Jan Rhodes and Sandra Shenkir. They were joined in the program by Foundation president and CEO Julie Baker Finck. Ladies Literacy Guild president Deborah Dunkum proved to be key to the luncheon’s success.

“Harry’s heartfelt tribute to his mother reminded us of the profound influence a mother can have on a child’s life,” Finck says. “Mrs. Bush understood that influence and believed deeply in the power of parents to inspire a lifelong love of reading. Thanks to our generous supporters and the dedication of the Ladies for Literacy Guild, we are carrying her vision forward for children and families across Houston.”

PC Seen: Maria Bush, Sarahbeth and Pierce Bush, Lilly Andress, Alvin Abraham, Laurie Lashier, Betty Hrncir; Maggie Austin, Amy Chronis, Sue Conway, Patricia Cornelius, Stick Delaup, Deborah Dunkum, Lesha Elsenbrook, Sidney Faust, Gail Garland, Rhonda Graff, Maureen Higdon, Mehrnaz Gill, Lisa Jakel, Jenny Joy, Patti Kroll, Laurie Lashier, Julie Little, and Anne McClellan.